NEW YORK, July 16, 2025 /3BL/ - At the United Nations 2026 Water Conference Preparatory Meeting, Action Against Hunger joined forces with the French Water Partnership to represent the WASH Road Map and the Global WASH Cluster in launching the 2025 Call to Action for Survival and Resilient WASH, a bold and urgent appeal to prioritize humanitarian water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. The call to action is endorsed by over 230 humanitarian and development actors and four national governments.
Across the globe, nearly 175 million people require humanitarian assistance for WASH. In 2024, the needs were met for only 48 million people—just a quarter of those who need this lifesaving aid—due to chronic underfunding, political interference, and security risks undermining the safety of both the people in need and humanitarian personnel.
In her address during a high-level Multi-Stakeholder Interactive Session, Marie-Laure Vercambre, General Director of the French Water Partnership, emphasized the gravity of the situation: “In 2025, of the $3.2 billion needed, only $146 million has been secured [as of April 2025]—barely 4.5 percent. This situation jeopardizes the lives and dignity of millions of people in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Yet, water is not optional—it is a human right and a lifesaving asset.”
The call to action urges Member States and all actors to:
- Reaffirm compliance with humanitarian principles;
- Substantially increase funding for humanitarian WASH responses, particularly in fragile, conflict, and violence-affected contexts;
- Systematically target WASH efforts where needs are most critical;
- Ensure respect for international humanitarian law to protect WASH infrastructure and humanitarian personnel;
- Reinforce global water governance by integrating humanitarian WASH into the agenda of the 2026 and 2028 UN Water Conferences.
Nicolas Villeminot, Senior WASH Advisor at Action Against Hunger, highlighted the strong backing of the Slovenian and Swiss delegations, whose support underscores the growing international momentum behind humanitarian WASH. Both delegations are vocal supporters of a stronger inclusion of the specific needs of humanitarian WASH as part of the UN Water Conference. Nicolas Villeminot stated, “Our coalition extends an invitation to the two co-chairs of the Conference, Senegal and the United Arab Emirates, to join us next month at the Stockholm World Water Week to sign the pledge of the Humanitarian WASH Roadmap, and to make sure that humanitarian needs strongly appear in the interactive dialogue on Water for People.”
The Global WASH Cluster also issued a campaign encouraging stakeholders to endorse the Call to Action and amplify its reach. “This is not just a policy commitment—it’s a collective movement,” the Global WASH Cluster emphasized.
As preparations for the 2026 UN Water Conference continue, Action Against Hunger remains committed to ensuring that humanitarian WASH is not only recognized but embedded in global water governance frameworks. Together with our partners, we are turning this crisis into an opportunity—to save lives and build a more resilient future.
Building on the 2023 UN Water Conference—the first high-level conference in nearly half a century to focus on the water crisis—the 2026 UN Water Conference, co-hosted by Senegal and the UAE, will aim to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
During the Preparatory Meeting of July 9th, the Member States formally adopted by consensus the six Interactive Dialogue themes that will frame the 2026 UN Water Conference:
- 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 and disaster risk reduction; (d) 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 for Sustainable Development and beyond, and global water initiatives;
- Investments in water: financing, technology and innovation, and capacity building.
The need for action over commitments was emphasized by many Member States and civil society representatives throughout the day to accelerate SDG 6, which is one of the most off-track SDGs. As highlighted in an address from the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Water, Her Excellency Retno L. P. Marsudi, the conference must be “the time to transform the moment for SDG 6 into movement. Moment to movement.” She added that “Globally, water-related disasters have contributed to 95% of infrastructure loss and damages, and in 2024 alone, it costed as much as $550 billion in economic loss.”
Action Against Hunger echoes the European Union’s statement advocating for the establishment of thematic civil society working groups aligned with the six interactive dialogue topics, to enable meaningful and substantive stakeholder contributions as part of a truly inclusive and consultative process.