2026 United Nations Water Conference
Second Global Online Stakeholder Consultation
Contribute your inputs for the Interactive Dialogues Concept Papers
Deadline: 17 October 2025
The General Assembly, in its resolution 78/327, decided to convene the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, co-hosted by the Republic of Senegal and the United Arab Emirates, from 2 to 4 December 2026 in the United Arab Emirates.
As outlined in resolution 78/327, the 2026 United Nations Water Conference will include six Interactive Dialogues to be held in parallel with the plenary meetings. Building on the themes of the five interactive dialogues from the UN 2023 Water Conference, and taking into account all formal and informal contributions received, including through a global online stakeholder consultation (May 2025), the co-hosts of the 2026 UN Water Conference proposed themes that ensure adequate attention to all aspects of SDG 6, including its eight targets and the Global Acceleration Framework, as well as broader links to the 2030 Agenda and its pillars.
In April 2025, stakeholders were invited to contribute inputs on the themes of the interactive dialogues of the 2026 UN Water Conference through a first global online consultation. The summary report can be accessed here.
The Interactive Dialogue themes were developed through an inclusive, transparent, and participatory process as outlined in the background note (issued on 16 June 2025). The six themes are interconnected, equally prioritized, and mutually reinforcing. Each dialogue should take an innovative, solutions-oriented, and forward-looking approach to accelerate implementation, and should promote cross-sectoral and multi-stakeholder engagement.
The following themes were adopted by consensus during the one-day meeting convened by the President of the UN General Assembly on 9 July 2025:
- Water for People: the human rights to water and sanitation, including for those in vulnerable situations, for healthy societies and economies.
- Water for Prosperity: Valuing water, Water-Energy-Food nexus, advancing integrated and sustainable water resource management, wastewater and water-use efficiency across sectors, and economic and social development.
- Water for Planet: Climate, Biodiversity, Desertification, Environment, Source to Sea, Resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction.
- Water for Cooperation: Transboundary and International Water Cooperation, including Scientific Cooperation, and Inclusive Governance.
- Water in Multilateral Processes: Sustainable Development Goal 6, the 2030 Agenda and beyond, and global water initiatives.
- Investments for water: Financing, technology and innovation, and capacity building.
Second Global Online Stakeholder Consultation: Inputs For The Interactive Dialogues Concept Papers
Working closely with UN-Water, the Secretariat is preparing concept papers for each of the Interactive Dialogues of the 2026 UN Water Conference. Member States are currently being consulted to provide their inputs.
In parallel, to ensure meaningful and substantive engagement of stakeholders in preparation for the 2026 UN Water Conference, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, academic institutions, the scientific community, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, persons with disabilities, the private sector and philanthropic organizations, and other actors are now invited to contribute their views, comments and inputs on the Concept Papers of the Interactive Dialogues through a second global online consultation. Contributions may include relevant, up-to-date data, analysis, and good practices related to advancing the implementation of SDG 6 and its targets, as well as interlinkages with other SDGs and the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework (financing, data and information, capacity development, innovation, and governance).
The online consultation will also serve to promote broad and participatory engagement for the 2026 UN Water Conference. It will complement and feed into other on-going processes for stakeholder participation.
Submit your inputs here
The deadline for submissions is 17 October 2025 (COB, EDT).
For more general information about the 2026 UN Water Conference, please visit: https://sdgs.un.org/conferences/water2026
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