Launch of the second Progress Report on Transboundary Water Cooperation: Global status of SDG indicator 6.5.2 and acceleration needs

Transboundary waters account for 60 per cent of the world’s freshwater flows. 153 countries have territory within at least one of the transboundary rivers and lake basins; transboundary aquifers underlay almost every country. Transboundary water cooperation is crucial for peace, sustainable development and regional stability. The related indicator 6.5.2 measures progress in this regard. The results of the second monitoring on SDG indicator 6.5.2 shows that only 24 out of 153 countries have all their transboundary waters covered by operational arrangements. A major effort is therefore needed to accelerate progress in ensuring that operational arrangements cover all transboundary basins by 2030.

This webinar launched the 2nd Progress report on the indicator prepared in 2021 and discussed how concreate actions can be taken to accelerate progress on transboundary water cooperation in support of the SDG 6.5 target. Co-organised by UNECE and UNESCO, the webinar formed part of the series of webinars to launch SDG6 indicators reports in 2021 under the umbrella of UN-Water IMI-SDG6.

The webinar was targeted to ministries responsible for water management and those of foreign affairs and permanent missions, to experts who completed the reporting template or coordinated the reporting process on SDG indicator 6.5.2, experts involved in the SDG 6 process at the national level, in particular the SDG 6 overall focal points, the national statistical offices, and experts involved in transboundary water cooperation.

Tuesday 14 September 2021 14:00-15:30 CEST, with interpretation into French, Russian and Spanish

• Introduction and housekeeping by moderator
• Opening
• Results and Key messages from the 2nd monitoring of SDG indicator 6.5.2 by UNECE & UNESCO
• Perspectives from countries and partners on how the monitoring on SDG indicator 6.5.2 can be used to focus efforts towards advancing transboundary water cooperation and the achievement of Target 6.5
• Discussion with the audience on how to make the most of the SDG 6.5.2 monitoring process to advance transboundary water cooperation by 2030?
• Closing remarks by UNECE & UNESCO

Recording of the webinar launching the 2nd Report on SDG indicator 6.5.2 in English, French, Russian and Spanish