The 42nd UN-Water Meeting was held at the Palais des Nations, the United Nations Office at Geneva, from 30 September to 1 October 2025, hosted by the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
The UN-Water Chair and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) President Alvaro Lario oversaw proceedings alongside UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNITAR Michelle Gyles-McDonnough and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Water, Retno Marsudi.
During the two-day gathering, participants focused on the continued implementation of the UN System-wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation, preparations for the 2026 UN Water Conference, and the evolving UN programming landscape.
Delegates from UN-Water’s 36 Members and 51 Partners discussed their ongoing contributions to the development of the 2026 Conference’s six interactive dialogues on water for people, prosperity, planet, cooperation, in multilateral processes, and investments for water.
The Member States briefing and dialogue session highlighted that UN-Water provides an example of the collaboration called for under the UN80 Initiative and emphasized the opportunity presented by the 2026 UN Water Conference, and other forthcoming high-level events, to shape the future of the global water agenda post-2030.
Additional agenda items included reports from a variety of UN-Water task forces and updates on World Water Day and World Toilet Day campaigns.
The 43rd UN-Water Meeting will be hosted by IFAD in Rome on 24-25 March 2026.
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