ALICANTE, Spain — “We have failed.” That was World Wildlife Fund Communications Manager Richard Lee’s message to water communicators.
Speaking on a panel at last week’s virtual World Water Week event, Lee said that despite some brilliant campaigns, “we are way off track from Sustainable Development Goal 6” on access to clean water.
As of 2015, over 2 billion people still lacked access to water — a basic human right. And there is a substantial lack of funding; less than 14% of countries have the resources needed to implement water, sanitation, and hygiene plans. The interconnected nature of the SDGs means a lack of investment and progress in achieving access to water stymies progress among the other goals on health, livelihoods, education, and agriculture.