For the purposes of the Conference and in preparation for World Water Day 2014, the UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) has produced a series of information briefs on the implementation of the different sub-themes of current proposals of the water related sustainable development goals.

Economic and Financial Instruments for the Implementation of the water-related Sustainable Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals provided a lever to mobilise and increase the financial resources available to provide access to water and sanitation for the poor. All types of finance – public, private, domestic and international – have increased since 2002 (IMF, 2014). But financing needs for poverty eradication and water development still are significant. The financial resources required are as high as the challenges they are expected to help coping with. But the emerging patterns of resource flows highlight the increasing opportunities for mobilizing financing needed to support the achievement of sustainable development.

Governance challenges and suggested tools for the implementation of the water-related Sustainable Development Goals

Implementing the water-related SDG will require countries to translate global goals into concrete actions on a number of water topics: access to drinking water and sanitation; water resources management; water quality and wastewater treatment; and water-related disasters. However, to do so and achieve the targets set by the SDG up to 2030, countries will have to address a number of governance gaps related to water policy design, regulation and implementation. There are a wide variety of guidelines, instruments, and publication that support better governance in the water sector.

Technology Challenges and tools for the implementation of the water related sustainable development goals and targets

As stated by the UN Secretary General in the synthesis report on the Post 2015 Agenda (paragraph 124), ‘there are a number of on-going international initiatives aimed at accelerating the development, diffusion and transfer of appropriate, especially environmentally sound, technologies. Thus far, however, ambition has not matched the challenges at hand. Although technical achievement has been rapidly increasing in developing countries, the gap by comparison with developed countries remains large’. The discussion is being framed around technology development, transfer, adoption and/or dissemination and gives a very careful attention to the integration of scientific with indigenous and local knowledge as an important element of policies and programmes to manage natural resources in an environmentally and economically sustainable and culturally appropriate manner.