Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon announced they will jointly launch a new high-level panel on water, designed to mobilize action and financing for Sustainable Development Goal 6 — “ensure access to water and sanitation for all.”
The new panel, which has the support of the U.N., the World Bank and institutions such as the World Resources Institute and the World Water Council, will be co-chaired by the presidents of Mauritius and Mexico and will include eight other heads of state from developed and developing countries.
Last week’s announcement came as a big victory for water and sanitation champions who see their sector as a key component to the success of other SDGs. But ensuring access to water and sanitation for all by 2030 will require overcoming significant hurdles.
About the author
Jeff Tyson@jtyson21
Jeff is a former global development reporter for Devex. Based in Washington, D.C., he covers multilateral affairs, U.S. aid, and international development trends. He has worked with human rights organizations in both Senegal and the U.S., and prior to joining Devex worked as a production assistant at National Public Radio. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in international relations and French from the University of Rochester.
