UN-Water

15/11/2025

Clean hands, healthy communities.

WHO and UNICEF have launched the first-ever global Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Community Settings — a major step toward ensuring everyone, everywhere can wash their hands with soap and water.

The Guidelines outline clear, practical actions for governments and communities to promote sustainable hygiene access — across homes, schools, workplaces, and public spaces.

Hand hygiene is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to protect health, reducing diarrhoea by 30% and respiratory infections by 17%.

Learn more and download the Guidelines: https://www.unwater.org/news/who/unicef-guidelines-hand-hygiene-community-settings

14/11/2025

Anticipating the storm before it strikes is one of our greatest tools for saving lives and protecting economies in the face of climate change.

At the heart of this ability lies climate information — data collected from weather stations, gauges, and sensors that is transformed into knowledge about trends, vulnerabilities, and impacts.

This knowledge powers early warning systems, climate services, and risk-informed development planning — helping farmers prepare for droughts, cities manage floods, and communities adapt to a changing world.

Over time, these systems don’t just warn us — they help build resilience and guide smarter, more sustainable decisions.

📸 Learn more in this UNDP photo story: How climate information and early warning systems protect lives and economies
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Climate information and early warning systems underpin risk-informed development and adaptation planning.

12/11/2025

This , let’s build a future where toilets are strong, safe, and work in every situation.
🚽 Toilets that serve everyone – including people in remote, flood-prone, or fast-growing areas.
We all have the human right to a toilet that protects our health and our future. www.worldtoiletday.org

12/11/2025

11/11/2025

Innovative nature-based solutions are transforming wastewater treatment in informal settlements — improving the health of children, their communities, and their environment.

Nearly 1 in 4 urban residents live in informal settlements. Each community has the potential to benefit from nature-based solutions that make wastewater management more sustainable and resilient.

Discover how it works in this video from UNICEF 👉 https://www.unicef.org/innovation/urban-wastewater-treatment

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10/11/2025

New WHO Academy Course: Safely Managed On-site Sanitation (SMOSS)

A new course — “Safely Managed On-site Sanitation (SMOSS): Why It Matters and How We Monitor It” — is now available through the WHO Academy.

The course features six self-paced modules packed with practical tools, country examples, and guidance on using data to inform sanitation policies and planning. It builds capacity to monitor progress on SDG 6.2 – safely managed sanitation for all, helping turn data into action to strengthen national sanitation systems.

Launched in 2020, the WHO Academy is WHO’s state-of-the-art learning hub, offering evidence-based training for health workers, policymakers, and partners across key areas — including water, sanitation, and hygiene.

🔗 Enrol on the WHO Academy platform: https://www.unwater.org/news/new-who-academy-course-safely-managed-site-sanitation-smoss

07/11/2025

Climate change is putting people and the planet at risk — we must transform how we manage water. 💧

Around the world, people face too much, too little, or too polluted water — or all three. Tackling this global water crisis is central to the work of the United Nations, with more than 30 organizations collaborating through UN-Water to protect every part of the water cycle.

Progress towards safe water and sanitation for all ( ) is improving, but not fast enough. Water stress remains at a global “safe” level, yet rising population, shifting diets, and climate change are putting growing pressure on our most precious resource.

At , let’s act together — because = .

05/11/2025

🚽 For , the CEO of the Toilet Board Coalition shares a statement on the solutions already driving change.

At the Toilet Board Coalition, the purpose is clear: accelerating business solutions to the sanitation crisis. Through the world’s leading Accelerator for Sanitation Economy businesses, entrepreneurs are turning waste into valuable resources, protecting health and dignity, creating jobs, and building resilient, circular systems.

This impact is made possible by members and partners — corporations, NGOs, governments, and investors — proving that collective action works.

Together, we can achieve SDG 6: universal access to water and sanitation, unlocking progress on every other SDG.

👉 Read the CEO’s statement in [English], [Español], and [Français].

World Toilet Day 2025: The Toilet Board Coalition calls for collective action to unlock sanitation for all, protect dignity, and power sustainable change.

03/11/2025

💧 Scaling Water Reuse: A Tipping Point for Municipal and Industrial Use

A new flagship report from the World Bank Group makes the case for investing in water reuse as a sustainable solution to growing water insecurity.

With targeted investment and enabling regulations, potable and industrial water reuse could grow eight-fold by 2040, reaching 430 million cubic metres per day — equivalent to one quarter of freshwater withdrawals for the municipal sector.

Scaling water reuse is not only about securing supply. It also helps reduce pollution, conserve freshwater sources, and unlock new sources of finance.

📖 Explore how cities and industries can turn water reuse into a mainstream solution: https://www.unwater.org/news/scaling-water-reuse-tipping-point-municipal-and-industrial-use

01/11/2025

Glacier-related disasters—like floods, avalanches, and ice collapses—are intensifying as the climate warms, threatening communities in mountainous regions.

At the High-Level Conference on Glaciers' Preservation in Dushanbe, a session organized by UNDRR, WMO, and the Government of Switzerland underscored the need for stronger early warning systems and international cooperation.

The UN’s Early Warnings for All (EW4All) initiative aims to ensure everyone, everywhere is protected by early warning systems by 2027.

Learn more ⬇️ https://www.unwater.org/news/early-warnings-all-ew4all-initiative
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Experts warned that glacier-related disasters, such as glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and other floods, avalanches, and ice collapses are intensifying due to climate change, threatening communities in mountainous regions.The session spotlighted the urgency of the UN’s “Early Warnings for A...

31/10/2025

Let’s build toilets that are strong, safe, and ready for the future.

🚽 Toilets that work in floods and droughts.
🚽 Toilets that serve growing cities and remote areas.
🚽 Toilets that protect health, dignity, and the environment.

It’s time to turn plans into action, and make toilets fit for the future, today.
Visit www.worldtoiletday.org to learn how you can help.