| 2026 United Nations Water Conference Special Accreditation for Non-Governmental Organizations and Other Relevant Stakeholders (First Round) Apply by 21 March 2025 Background The high-level 2026 United Nations Water Conference to Accelerate the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all will be held in the United Arab Emirates from 2–4 December 2026, co-hosted by Senegal and the United Arab Emirates. The Conference will consider challenges to achieving SDG 6 as well as opportunities and innovative ways to support its implementation and accelerate progress. Participants will exchange views, develop initiatives, and identify actions to advance SDG 6, including cooperation at all relevant levels to enhance means of implementation and partnerships. The Conference will also highlight gender perspectives and empowerment of women and girls in ensuring safe drinking water and sanitation for all. The Conference will result in a summary of the proceedings of the Conference, to be prepared by the Presidents of the Conference, as its outcome document. The summary will also serve as an input to the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). Additionally, the Conference will offer an opportunity to share best practices in accelerating SDG implementation—including those included in the Water Action Agenda—and will invite Member States and other stakeholders to announce voluntary commitments in support of the Conference objectives. Members States decided that the 2026 Conference should build on the discussions held during the UN 2023 Water Conference. The 2026 UN Water Conference will be comprised of plenary sessions and six interactive dialogues (A/RES/78/327). The Conference secretariat, UN-DESA, will prepare a background note on potential themes of the interactive dialogues, based on the inputs of Member States, the UN system, and a wide range of other stakeholders. The themes of the interactive dialogues will be adopted by the UN General Assembly at a one-day meeting to be convened by the President of the General Assembly on 9 July 2025. For more background information on the Conference, please see: 2026 UN Water Conference | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Which stakeholders can participate in the 2026 UN Water Conference? Participation of representatives from non-governmental organizations, major groups and other relevant stakeholders at the 2026 UN Water Conference is guided by A/RES/78/327. Organizations that fall under the following categories will be able to request registration to attend the 2026 UN Water Conference and its preparatory meeting. -
Non-governmental organizations and major groups identified in Agenda 21 and other stakeholders in consultative status with ECOSOC. You can check if your organization has consultative status with ECOSOC here. -
Organizations that were accredited to previous United Nations' conferences as per A/RES/78/327.
Special Accreditation Process As guided by resolution A/RES/78/327other relevant non-governmental organizations, including civil society organizations, academic institutions, the scientific community, the private sector and philanthropic organizations whose work is relevant to the Conference and are not in consultative status with ECOSOC or accredited to the previous United Nations Conferences mentioned above, must receive special accreditation in order to participate in the Conference and the preparatory meeting as observers. Interested organizations can apply by 21 March 2025 using this link: bit.ly/4kjdUKP This round of special accreditation will be conducted on the Civil Society Platform, one of the latest initiatives from the UN Department of Global Communications (DGC) designed to streamline engagement processes for civil society organizations. If your organization does not yet have an account, follow the user guides below to get started: Quick Start on the Civil Society Platform Account Creation Guide and FAQs Request Accreditation Guide Applications will be reviewed on the basis of their background and involvement in the implementation and follow up of SDG 6. The President of the General Assembly will draw up the list of recommended organizations and submit it to Member States for their consideration on a non-objection basis. Approved organizations will be notified by the Secretariat after Member States review. Once an organization or entity receives special accreditation, it will be able to register representatives to participate at the 2026 UN Water Conference and its preparatory meeting. For additional information about the 2026 UN Water Conference, please check https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2026 Did a friend share this with you? Sign up to receive regular updates on the 2026 UN Water Conference and its preparatory process. Join our mailing list here. | 
