UN water

UN-Water was created in 2003 to coordinate global water-related work of 26 relevant UN agency "members," and to interact with 17 major non-UN "partners." "Partners" not only include conservation groups such as the World Wildlife Fund, but also private-water industry lobbying groups like AquaFed. A full list of members and partners are listed below.

UN-Water's members and partners convened in Hamilton, Canada Feb. 2-4, 2010 to plan fresh strategy for a coordinated approach to the global water crisis that increasingly threatens both human health and international security. The meeting will also formalize international ceremonies to mark the World Water Day 2010 (March 22) and help set both direction and UN agency contributions for the next triennial World Water Development Report in 2012.

UN-Water also plans World Water Day and World Water Week.

Mission
As UN-Water is not an implementing body, its specific activities and programmes are hosted by individual member agencies on behalf of UN-Water. UN-Water was established to promote coherence and coordination in UN System initiatives that are related to UN-Water’s scope of work and contribute to the implementation of the agenda defined by the 2000 Millennium Declaration and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Scope
The scope of UN-Water’s work encompasses all aspects of freshwater and sanitation, including surface and groundwater resources and the interface between freshwater and seawater and water-related disasters.

According to the UN-Water website, its work focuses on:

Providing policy briefs and other information or communication materials for the public, as well as policy and other decision-makers with an influence on how water is used;

Building the knowledge base on water issues through efficient monitoring and reporting systems and facilitating easy access to this knowledge through regular reports and the Internet.

Providing a platform for system-wide discussions to identify challenges in global water management, analyze options for meeting these challenges and ensuring that reliable information and sound analysis informs the global policy debate on water.

UN-Water Members:

 * United Nations University (UNU)
 * UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
 * UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)
 * UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
 * UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
 * UN Development Programme (UNDP)
 * UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
 * UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
 * UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)
 * UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
 * UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
 * UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC)
 * UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA)
 * UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
 * Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
 * International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
 * UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
 * UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
 * The World Bank Group (WB)
 * World Health Organization (WHO)
 * World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
 * UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
 * International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
 * Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD)
 * Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
 * Secretariat of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

UN-Water Partners:

 * AquaFed
 * The Global Compact
 * Global Water Partnership (GWP)
 * International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH)
 * International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS)
 * International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID)
 * International Water Association (IWA)
 * International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
 * Public Services International (PSI)
 * Ramsar – Convention on Wetlands
 * Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
 * UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB)
 * Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)
 * World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
 * World Conservation Union (IUCN)
 * World Water Council (WWC)
 * World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)