Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all

Clean Water & Sanitation


Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is the most basic human need for health and well-being. Billions of people will lack access to these basic services in 2030 unless progress quadruples. Demand for water is rising owing to rapid population growth, urbanization and increasing water needs from agriculture, industry, and energy sectors.

The demand for water has outpaced population growth, and half the world’s population is already experiencing severe water scarcity at least one month a year. Water scarcity is projected to increase with the rise of global temperatures as a result of climate change.

Investments in infrastructure and sanitation facilities; protection and restoration of water- related ecosystems; and hygiene education are among the steps necessary to ensure universal access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030, and improving water-use efficiency is one key to reducing water stress.

There has been positive progress. Between 2015 and 2022, the proportion of the world’s population with access to safely managed drinking water increased from 69 per cent to 73 per cent.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

World Alliance for Clean Technologies

Lausanne Switzerland J

World Alliance for Low Carbon Cities

WALCC Helsinki Finland G

World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association

WAVMA 2007 Conifer CO USA D

World Association for Sustainable Development

WASD 2003 London UK C

World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations

WAITRO 1970 Nanjing China B yt

World Association of Soil and Water Conservation

WASWAC 1983 Beijing China B

World Association of Veterinary Food Hygienists

WAVFH 1955 Berlin Germany C

World Bamboo Organization

WBO 1992 Plymouth MA USA C

World Benchmarking Alliance

WBA Amsterdam Netherlands C y

World Business Council for Sustainable Development

WBCSD 1995 Geneva Switzerland C

World Climate Foundation

WCF Copenhagen Denmark J

World Concern International

1955 Seattle WA USA F

World Council for Renewable Energy

WCRE 2001 Dessau Germany C

World Council of Civil Engineers

WCCE 2005 Granada Spain C y

World Council of Power Utilities

WCPU 1995 Delhi India D

World Council on City Data

WCCD Toronto ON Canada J

World Culture Forum

WCF Delhi India G

World Economy, Ecology and Development

WEED 1990 Berlin Germany G

World Emergency Relief

WER 1985 San Dimas CA USA G

World Energy & Meteorology Council

WEMC 2015 Norwich UK C

World EOD Foundation

Watford UK F f

World Evangelical Alliance Sustainability Center

WEA Sustainability Center 2018 Bonn Germany G

World Farmers' Organisation

WFO 2011 Rome Italy C

World Federation of Engineering Organizations

WFEO 1968 Paris France A y

World Federation of Scientific Workers

WFSW 1946 Mont-Saint-Aignan France C

World Federation of United Nations Associations

WFUNA 1946 New York NY USA E

World Food Programme

WFP 1961 Rome Italy F g

World for World Organization

WFWO 2001 Rome Italy G

World Geospatial Industry Council

WGIC 2018 The Hague Netherlands C t

World Green Infrastructure Network

WGIN 2008 Toronto ON Canada F

World Health Innovation Summit

WHIS Carlisle UK J

World Health Organization

WHO 1946 Geneva Switzerland B g

World Hydrological Cycle Observing System

WHYCOS 1993 Geneva Switzerland F g

World Information Transfer

WIT 1986 New York NY USA F

World Meteorological Organization

WMO 1947 Geneva Switzerland B g

World Mountain People Association

WMPA 2001 Paris France C

World Neighbors

WN 1951 Oklahoma City OK USA G v

World Organization of the Scout Movement

WOSM 1907 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia B

World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies

WOCAT 1992 Bern Switzerland K

World Plumbing Council

WPC 1990 B

World Sailing

1907 London UK B y

World Shiology Forum

WSF 2017 Beijing China J

world stainless association

worldstainless 1995 Brussels Belgium F y

World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance

1992 London UK F

World Vision International

WVI 1950 London UK B

World Water Assessment Programme

WWAP Paris France E g

World Water Council

WWC 1996 Marseille France C y

World Water Institute

AAI Pune India G j

World Wide Fund for Nature

WWF 1961 Gland Switzerland F f

World Wind Energy Association

WWEA 2001 Bonn Germany C yt

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