Why European Union Ministers Should Be in Madrid This October
Spain addresses the 2025 SMM at the 2026 Water Conference preparatory meeting in New York.
In October 2025, the Government of Spain, in collaboration with the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) partnership and UNICEF, will host the Sector Ministers Meeting (SMM)—and for the first time, this high-level convening will take place in Europe. Bringing together ministers for water, sanitation, environment, and climate, it offers a rare opportunity to advance Sustainable Development Goal 6 - water and sanitation for all - alongside the recognised human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, and to align these with urgent priorities in climate resilience, resource security, and geopolitical stability.
The stakes could not be higher. Climate change is reshaping the water cycle, creating new pressures on water availability and quality. For European governments, the 2025 Sector Ministers Meeting is a timely opportunity to work with global partners on water and sanitation challenges, align policies, and target support where it is most needed. While it will not solve these issues immediately, it can build the momentum and trust required for sustained action — turning water insecurity from a risk into a driver of resilience and cooperation, and helping Europe manage risks such as migration, supply chain shocks, and geopolitical tensions.
For EU countries, the 2025 SMM is not simply a development meeting—it is a diplomatic and strategic opportunity.
1. Strengthening Global Water Security
Water is at the heart of peace, security, and prosperity. Yet, water scarcity is driving health crises, displacement, and fragility in climate “hot spots” such as Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America—regions that together hold 55% of the developing world’s population.
Without urgent, coordinated action, the World Bank estimates up to 143 million people could be displaced by 2050 due to climate impacts on water resources. The SMM provides EU ministers with an opportunity to initiate and deepen collaboration with representatives from 80 UN Member States, focusing on the underlying factors of water insecurity that contribute to instability and migration.
2. Advancing the EU Water Resilience Strategy
The EU’s recently-launched Water Resilience Strategy needs a strong international dimension to succeed. The SMM offers the perfect platform to:
Share case studies of EU innovations in water efficiency, governance, and climate-smart infrastructure.
Promote integrated approaches that link water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) with water resource management and climate action.
Align with global partners to set common standards for resilient water governance.
3. Boosting Team Europe Initiatives
Participation in the SMM can catalyse a Team Europe Initiative on Water, Sanitation, and Climate Adaptation — uniting EU diplomacy, climate financing, and development. Such an initiative could bridge climate adaptation, integrated water resource management, and WASH services—ensuring that EU investment delivers measurable results.
4. Coordinating Aid and Investments for Greater Impact
With 80 UN member states and major financing partners in the room, the SMM enables unprecedented coordination. This is a chance to:
Pool resources and avoid duplication in Official Development Assistance.
Explore blended finance models combining public and private investment.
Expand the EU’s Global Gateway partnerships to include water resilience alongside energy and digital connectivity.
5. Demonstrating EU Leadership on Climate Adaptation and Finance
The water and sanitation sector remains critically underfunded in climate adaptation efforts. By using the SMM to commit new resources—aligned with the Global Goal on Adaptation’s water and sanitation target—the EU can lead in ensuring vulnerable partner countries have the infrastructure they need to withstand climate shocks.
How EU Countries Can Engage at the SMM
Send a high-level representative—ideally the minister responsible for water, sanitation, environment, or climate.
Showcase EU leadership through plenary interventions and ministerial dialogues on circular water economy, digital water systems, resilient infrastructure, and financing solutions.
Activate embassies and development agencies in SWA partner countries to participate in preparatory dialogues.
Madrid 2025 provides the EU with a chance to advance water and sanitation as integral to climate, development, and security agendas. By building durable partnerships and aligning policies, European governments can help lay the groundwork for long‑term stability and resilience at home and abroad.
How SWA’s Heads of State Initiatives and Upcoming Madrid Ministerial Meeting Support AU‑AIP Commitments
Heads of State discuss unlocking financing options through the Heads of State Initiative during the Financing for Development Conference, June 2025.
The upcoming AU-AIP Africa Water Investment Summit, held under the historic South African G20 Presidency — the first ever on African soil — is a strategic turning point. It is a generational opportunity to place safe water and sanitation at the core of Africa’s health, climate resilience, and economic future.
Water and Sanitation: A Strategic Imperative for Africa’s Future
Across the continent, climate-induced disasters — droughts, floods, cholera outbreaks, and forced displacement — are intensifying. Chronic under-investment and fragmented efforts leave millions without access to safe water or sanitation. Women, children, and marginalized communities are hit the hardest.
To break this cycle, water and sanitation must be elevated as a Heads of State priority and embedded into national development plans. The Summit provides the platform to do just that—through country-led strategies, national investment compacts, and sustained accountability.
This is also the strategy behind SWA's Heads of State Initiatives (HoSI) where national compacts give governments a high‑level platform to tackle systemic bottlenecks, unlock financing, and strengthen accountability across sectors.
The upcoming SWA Sector Ministers’ Meeting (SMM) will turn these political commitments into actionable financing pathways, using peer learning and coordinated national systems. Together, HoSI and SMM can generate momentum, secure investment, and ensure sustained action to protect lives and build resilience across Africa.
Seizing the G20 Political Mandate
The G20 Call to Action on Strengthening Drinking-water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Services — adopted under the Brazilian G20 Presidency — represents a powerful political mandate to accelerate progress. The critical next step is to turn this mandate into tangible, nationally driven commitments that deliver results on the ground.
The AU-AIP Summit Outcome Document — to be presented to G20 leaders under South Africa’s historic presidency — must explicitly endorse and operationalize the Call to Action by embedding it into clear, actionable steps.
South Africa has a unique opportunity to lead by example, championing the development of integrated, costed investment pipelines — like those showcased at the Summit — to help close Africa’s $30 billion annual water investment gap.
The Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) partnership’s Mutual Accountability Mechanism (MAM) offers a complementary framework to formalize these commitments, set measurable targets, and ensure transparent, aligned follow-up by all partners. Together, this political momentum and accountability framework can drive the scale and speed of investment Africa urgently needs.
Financing Resilient, Inclusive Systems
The road to resilience runs through well-financed, inclusive systems — not isolated projects. Ministers and partners must collaborate to:
Mobilize diversified financing, from domestic budgets to private capital
Promote gender-responsive budgeting and public-private partnerships
Scale climate-resilient infrastructure through innovative tools like blended finance
The Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) partnership, with over 15 years of experience supporting high-level dialogues and mutual accountability, will play a key role in helping governments translate political commitments into practical, costed pathways.
Inclusive Governance: Leaving No One Behind
Water and sanitation systems must be designed for everyone, especially those too often left behind: women, rural communities, people with disabilities, and marginalized groups.
At the Summit, leaders can commit to inclusive governance, professionalized service delivery, local authority support, and strong data systems to monitor and drive impact.
Connecting Global Moments for Sustained Action
The SWA Sector Ministers’ Meeting, taking place just months later in Madrid (October 22–23, 2025), will serve as a critical moment of follow-up. It will give African ministers and their peers worldwide a space to:
Convert AU-AIP commitments into concrete action plans
Share progress and challenges
Build cross-country peer learning alliances
Elevate Africa’s priorities in the lead-up to the 2026 UN Water Conference
A Defining Opportunity
The convergence of African leadership, G20 influence, and global momentum offers an unprecedented chance to transform water and sanitation access across the continent.
By acting decisively now, we can shape a future where every African enjoys their human right to water and sanitation, and where water becomes a cornerstone of sustainable development, health, and climate resilience.
Let’s not waste this moment.
Leading, Committing and Delivering through Accountability
Women at a watering point in southern Djibouti. ©UNICEF/Noorani
Achieving true progress demands genuine accountability. Since its inception, SWA’s Mutual Accountability Mechanism (MAM) has provided a platform for inclusive, government-led processes that unite stakeholders around shared commitments. This year, it is an important component of the outcomes from the Sector Ministers’ Meeting (SMM) happening in October.
The MAM helps countries operationalise the integration agenda that’s at the heart of the 2025 SMM—bringing water, sanitation, climate, and water resource management into one coherent framework. MAM also strengthens coordination. By facilitating joint priority-setting, it brings ministries and partners together to collaborate instead of working in parallel. This approach breaks down silos and embeds integration into planning and implementation.
Governments are currently facing multiple cascading crises, ranging from climate change to economic instability. Moreover, human rights law holds governments accountable for ensuring access to affordable and safe water and sanitation. Shared progress tracking through MAM gives ministers a platform to show leadership, demonstrate tangible results, and connect national action to high-level platforms like COP30 and the 2026 UN Water Conference.
The MAM can help mobilise resources, build partnerships, and turn shared goals into measurable progress. Strengthening existing commitments—or making a first—reflect ambition and real action on integration. Ensuring commitments are aligned with national policies and financing strategies increases their relevance, credibility, and chances of delivery.
The MAM Support Package Leading Up to the SMM
MAM Guidance Note on the SMM Theme: Ahead of the SMM, as country preparation teams meet to review and prepare MAM commitments, we’re sharing resources to support their efforts. The MAM Commitment Guidance Note provides principles and examples to guide the design of high-quality, ambitious commitments that deliver lasting impact.
MAM Highlights by Partner Countries: Our 2025 Commitment Reports reflect current commitments around the world, showing thematic focuses and efforts country by country. Overviews of Kenya, Uganda and Brazil can be seen here.
The Promise of MAM
The MAM can support ambitious, coordinated action that links planning, finance, and equity, thereby turning political will into measurable progress. Argentina, for example, committed to increasing national water coverage from 80.2% to 95.3% and sanitation coverage from 56.1% to 74.4% by 2030 – an example of a high-level, time-bound target embedded in national development plans that strengthens accountability and sector financing.
Mozambique committed to increasing its domestic budget for water and sanitation, with clear targets to reach underserved rural and peri-urban communities, backed by inter-ministerial collaboration and anchored in national budget processes.
We recently highlighted Uganda's commitment to develop a National Adaptation Plan for the WASH sector as well as a climate financing investment plan in one of our 15th anniversary stories. You can read more about their efforts here.
Later this month, SWA will launch a climate-focused MAM micro-brief highlighting how countries are positioning water and sanitation priorities within national climate planning and finance commitments. Momentum is building for this year’s SMM to facilitate opportunities for more countries to make commitments that drive the kind of progress their citizens need to see.
Our work on realizing the human rights to water and sanitation is supported by the European Commission.
Breaking Silos: Ministers Unite to Align Water, Climate, and Development Agendas
A Ministerial Dialogue at the Sector Ministers' Meeting in 2022.
In a recent closed-door virtual dialogue, ministers of water, sanitation, health, and environment came together to tackle one of today’s most pressing challenges: How to integrate climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, natural resource management, and essential services like water and sanitation in a world facing growing climate stress.
From the outset, speakers emphasized the urgent need for coordinated action. In the face of climate disruption and increasing demands on natural resources, safeguarding water and sanitation services is not just a development goal—it’s a global imperative. The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to collaborative leadership on this agenda, acknowledging the complexity of working across sectors, institutions, and financing systems.
At the heart of the discussion was a simple but powerful question: “What does breaking silos mean in your context?”
Responses revealed a shared understanding that integration is not a technical checkbox—it is a political choice. Ministers described efforts to harmonize national strategies, reform policy, and strengthen inter-ministerial coordination to align climate and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) priorities. Some pointed to national adaptation plans that now embed water and sanitation as a core climate issue, while others highlighted cross-sectoral governance at the highest levels, including through Heads of State Initiatives.
A strong message ran throughout the discussion: climate-resilient services must reach everyone. Special attention was given to the need to prioritize vulnerable and marginalized populations—ensuring that as countries scale up access, no one is left behind.
Several countries shared inspiring examples:
💧 Cross-sectoral platforms that unite ministries, civil society, and financiers behind a shared investment vision.
💧 Development of business units in rural areas to create economic opportunities linked to water and sanitation.
💧 Strengthening coordination at the basin level to manage resources more effectively in the face of climate variability.
However, challenges remain. Financing was repeatedly cited as a major barrier. While national strategies and policies are increasingly integrated, international funding mechanisms have yet to catch up. There is a call for global financing frameworks to better respond to the realities of climate-affected and resource-constrained environments.
The dialogue closed with a collective sense of urgency—and optimism. Ministers recognized that political leadership, coherent policy, and integrated approaches are the key to unlocking sustainable finance and ensuring resilient services.
As attention now turns to the 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid, this dialogue was an important stepping stone—a moment to build momentum, consolidate commitments, and accelerate action where it matters most.
Because breaking silos isn't just an ambition—it's how we secure a sustainable future for all.
Stepping Stones: The 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting & the 2026 UN Water Conference
Héctor Gómez Hernández, Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations, speaks at the Preparatory meeting of the 2026 United Nations Water Conference to Accelerate the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 on July 9.
“Spain believes that ensuring access to water and sanitation as human rights requires an integrated approach, particularly in the context of climate change. Indeed improving access to water and sanitation requires addressing water scarcity and pollution with an integrated water management framework.
In October this year, Spain will host the Ministerial Meeting with Sanitation and Water for All in collaboration with UNICEF. This important meeting will bring together global leaders in Madrid with the aim of precisely improving integration of the water, sanitation and climate sectors, giving particular attention to human rights and sustainable finance. Ministers will present the high-level leaders pact on Water Security and Resilience to translate political commitment to concrete action.
These are all important steps to the UN Conference in 2026.”
Breaking the Silos: Ministerial Roundtables Set the Stage for 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid
A ministerial dialogue at the 2022 SMM.
As climate shocks intensify, water stress increases and development challenges persist, it is clear that siloed solutions are no longer enough. The challenges we face are deeply connected and so must be our responses. Government leaders are in a unique position to drive this shift.
In the lead-up to the 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting (SMM), SWA’s upcoming series of virtual ministerial roundtables will provide a platform for countries to reflect, strategize, and build political momentum for a more unified approach to water, sanitation, and climate action.
This year’s SMM, hosted by the Government of Spain in Madrid, will gather political leaders to advance the integration of water, sanitation, and climate sectors, anchoring the discussions in human rights, sustainable financing, and scalable solutions. The SMM will launch the High-Level Leaders Compact on Water Security and Resilience—a bold new initiative aimed at galvanizing political commitment to integrated action.
Building the Momentum Through Regional Ministerial Roundtables
To ensure the 2025 SMM is action-oriented and grounded in real-world needs, ministerial roundtables will take place July 29 as a critical part of the preparatory process. These invite-only virtual discussions will be held under Chatham House Rules to allow for candid exchanges among ministers and senior officials responsible for water, sanitation, climate, and environmental portfolios.
The goal? To "break the silos," to overcome the institutional, legal, technical, and financial fragmentation that hinders progress and to co-create practical strategies for integrated, resilient development.
A Conversation Grounded in Political Reality
Each 60-minute roundtable will be structured to enable peer-to-peer political exchange. After opening remarks from Spain—highlighting its leadership on water policy integration—ministers will engage in a moderated discussion exploring key political and practical questions:
What does “breaking silos” look like in your country?
What barriers—be they institutional, financial, or legal—stand in the way of integration?
Why is integrated action politically important now?
What motivates your ministry to lead in this space—climate resilience, financing, governance efficiency?
Are there emerging cross-sectoral alliances or strategies already underway?
These conversations will not only enrich preparations for the 2025 SMM, but also help participating ministers and their teams align their national consultation processes with global frameworks such as the Paris Agreement, which sets the climate adaptation and mitigation agenda.
Why This Matters
These regional roundtables mark a crucial step in building the political will and shared understanding needed to tackle some of today’s most pressing challenges. They are not just about technical alignment—they’re about making a political case for doing things differently, together.
For ministers and senior leaders, the value is clear: It’s an opportunity to engage in real-time political dialogue with peers and create stronger alignment between national priorities and global frameworks.
As the countdown to the 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting begins, these roundtables signal a growing recognition: integration is not just an option—it’s a necessity.
From Crisis to Cooperation: Elevating Water as a Cornerstone of Global Resilience
H.E. Ms. Laura Chinchilla Miranda, an SWA Global Leadership Council member and former President of Costa Rica, gave the plenary address at the Seventh Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters, United Nations Headquarters, New York, 8 July 2025. This is an adapted version of that speech.
Laura Chinchilla at the the UN's Seventh Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters. UN Photo / Eskinder Debebe.
We stand at a critical inflection point. Across the world, natural disasters- from floods to droughts- are intensifying. Basic services are faltering. Inequalities are widening, and at the heart of these overlapping crises lies a singular, indispensable force: water.
Water sustains life, powers economies, and builds peace. But when neglected or weaponized, it can also become a source of suffering and division.
We are witnessing this at an alarming rate in regions where water and sanitation infrastructure are deliberately targeted – it not only violates international humanitarian law but also threatens the very foundation of human dignity.
Access to water must never, under any circumstances, be used as a weapon of war.
When catastrophe strikes, it reveals our vulnerabilities – but also offers opportunities to forge trust, collaboration, and resilience.
That collaboration, however, is not automatic. It must be designed and defended– through, diplomacy, robust information sharing, pooled resources and mechanisms that endure long after the waters recede.
This is especially true for those countries most exposed to climate-related risks.
Financing water as a global public good
As recently emphasised by the Club de Madrid, a group of former Heads of State, at the Seville Financing for Development Conference, we cannot expect these countries to act boldly on water, sanitation, and climate if they are paralysed by unsustainable debt. Financing water as a global public good- like health or education- is not only JUST, but also ESSENTIAL.
The call from Seville is clear: renew multilateralism, coordinate debt relief, and mobilize resources to protect rights and foster peace. These are not abstract aspirations. They are foundational to the work we do here and in that context, I call on the leadership of both current and former Heads of State.
Indeed, I am proud to highlight the progress we are making through the Heads of State Initiatives within the Sanitation and Water for All partnership. As a member of the SWA Global Leadership Council, I have the privilege of working alongside fellow leaders who are deeply committed to elevating water and sanitation to the highest levels of national decision-making.
This growing coalition - now over 18 countries strong - supported by SWA, UNICEF, the Governments of the UK and the Netherlands, IRC WASH, and WaterAid, is championing Presidential and Prime Ministerial Compacts that enshrine water and sanitation as human rights and national priorities.
These compacts are already yielding results - from budget increases in South Sudan to prioritising climate resilience in Nepal. They exemplify what can happen when global solidarity meets national action.
Momentum in Madrid
And this October, we will further build on this momentum in Madrid, at the 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting. Hosted by the Government of Spain and co-convened by SWA and UNICEF, this event will spotlight not only what we have achieved - but how we can go further, together.
The Madrid ministerial meeting will provide a critical forum for ministers and stakeholders from all regions to address the increasing threats posed by climate change, water insecurity, and service fragmentation.
It will focus not only on sharing experiences but also on catalysing systemic reforms to ensure resilient, climate-integrated water and sanitation strategies. Ministers will engage in targeted dialogues to forge practical, coordinated actions, aligning national plans such as National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions with the water sector.
This Meeting will also launch the High-Level Leaders’ Compact on Water Security and Resilience, a powerful declaration to elevate water and sanitation within climate, development, and financing frameworks - backed by the kind of leadership and innovation the world now urgently needs. This Compact is envisioned as a call for advocacy and action to strengthen the preparatory efforts with member states for the 2026 UN Water Conference.
Anchoring our work for the future
As we convene here, knowing that the outcomes of this session will feed directly into the Dushanbe Process and inform the UN Water Conferences of 2026 and 2028, we must anchor our work in three guiding principles. And let us do so knowing that the 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting will serve as a bridge between our deliberations today and the bold action required tomorrow.
The first guiding principle, anticipatory collaboration: We must shift from reaction to prevention. Early warning systems, shared data, and joint planning save lives and protect communities. This is where regional and international cooperation can be most transformative.
The second guiding principle, universal rights: We must uphold access to safe water and sanitation as fundamental human rights, even in times of crisis. Just like the rights to health and food, these rights demand that services be accessible, affordable, acceptable, and safe in both quality and delivery. They require progressive realization by all states, within their means, and must be prioritized in all humanitarian and development contexts. Protect critical water infrastructure under international norms, and ensure that all communities, especially the most marginalized, are prioritized in planning and investment. Indeed, when we recognize and uphold these rights even in fragile and politically sensitive settings, we transform water from a potential flashpoint into a cornerstone of peace.
Finally, the third guiding principle, transparency and accountability: We must mobilize and track financing for water and disaster risk reduction with rigor and openness. Encourage time-bound commitments from governments and stakeholders and establish peer-review mechanisms to “name and fame” progress, learning continually from one another. The 2025 SMM will be a unique platform to champion such accountability, offering ministers a space for open dialogue under Chatham House rules, and an opportunity to align national strategies with global frameworks.
The stakes could not be higher, and it is indeed time for courage and clarity. We cannot build resilient water systems while vulnerable countries are trapped in debt. We cannot promise universal access without investing in the systems that deliver it. And we cannot afford to treat water as anything less than a global priority- interlinked with climate, peace, and justice.
In this critical lead-up to 2030, let today be the catalyst that turns ambition into action.
Let our resolutions resonate in capitals and across basins. And let us remember- water does not divide us, it reveals our interdependence.
How Outcomes from the Financing for Development Conference are Powering the Road to the 2025 SMM in Madrid
Achieving sustainable access to water and sanitation requires leadership that places water at the heart of national and international political priorities. This prioritization must be matched by mobilizing the necessary resources to confront the challenges ahead. Globally, up to 50% of the population could face severe restrictions in access to safe drinking water within the next five years, living under conditions of scarcity and water stress.
Spain is no stranger to managing water scarcity, which is increasingly exacerbated by the impacts of climate change. Our climate has undergone significant changes. From 1961 to 2024, Spain's average temperature has risen by 1.69°C. The years 2022, 2023, and 2024 have been the hottest on record.
Spain's Ebro River / via Unsplash.
Spain’s long-standing experience in managing uneven water distribution has been grounded in our integrated basin-level policy approach. Our river basin organizations—set to mark their centennial in 2026—have played a vital role in equitably allocating water resources among users, coordinating across administrative and territorial boundaries, and ensuring collaborative, sustainable use.
The enormous global gap in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 makes it more urgent than ever to approach sustainable water and sanitation access through a holistic water resource management policy—one that is resilient to climate change and built on a sound regulatory, institutional, and financial framework. Such a policy must support the identification, evaluation, and implementation of the investments required to ensure safe and sustainable water and sanitation for all.
Over the past decades, Spain has made significant progress in water planning. Our water management plans, aligned with European Union directives, include ambitious targets for water quality and supply reliability. These are backed by concrete financing commitments from national and subnational actors, as well as all relevant sectors. Importantly, these plans integrate investment in water and sanitation access, guided by legal standards for quality, quantity, cost recovery, and pricing.
These advances have been made possible through strong political will, sustained public investment, robust data, and the active engagement of civil society, as well as public and private institutions. Political commitments can be translated into real progress when underpinned by clear policies, adequate budgets, and a shared sense of responsibility.
Looking ahead, Spain—together with the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge—will host the upcoming Sector Ministers’ Meeting of the SWA partnership in Madrid on 22–23 October. The Madrid meeting will offer a space for ministers of water, sanitation, and environment to align around practical solutions, shared goals, and coordinated financing strategies.
Let us continue to elevate water and sanitation not only as development goals but as essential enablers of economic resilience, human dignity, and climate action.
Does the world need another high-level meeting right now? Yes, it does.
In October, Spain will host SWA’s Sector Ministers’ Meeting (SMM) in Madrid, co-convening with SWA and UNICEF. SMMs, high-level meetings facilitated by the SWA Partnership, convene ministers responsible for water, sanitation and hygiene, and their counterparts responsible for climate, environment, health and the economy.
These meetings provide a space for leaders around the world to discuss strategies, identify solutions and find innovative ways to increase the political prioritization of water, sanitation and hygiene. SMMs also provide attendees with research, information and in-depth discussions on matters currently facing the sector. Government leaders can meet with top-ranking officials at the UN and donor agencies, international financial institutions, civil society, the private sector and others. These meetings are the only regular, minister-focused, global forum dedicated to water and sanitation.
2022 Sector Ministers' Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia
The Agenda for Madrid
This year’s SMM aims to encourage action toward integrating water, sanitation, and climate issues. It seeks to equip ministers with the necessary evidence, insights, and partnerships to shift the current emphasis on water supply and sanitation toward a more holistic approach. This direction will incorporate water resource management and climate resilience, supported by sustainable financing to operate at scale and ensure that the human rights to water and sanitation are upheld. Spain is familiar with intense water scarcity exacerbated by climate impacts and has a long tradition in managing scarce water resources and policy integration at the basin level.
The world is experiencing multiple crises that threaten the aim of achieving universal and sustainable access to water, sanitation, and hygiene. The growing impacts of climate change, lack of integrated water resources management, and environmental degradation are compounded by economic instability, reductions in foreign assistance, and conflict. In many cases, hard-won developmental gains are being threatened if not reversed, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities.
Climate change disrupts the water cycle in which all life ultimately depends, undermining the human rights to water and sanitation by affecting the availability, accessibility, and quality of freshwater resources.
Many people, especially the most marginalised, experience climate change through the increasing impacts of severe floods and drought events.
This situation will worsen without urgent and coordinated steps that integrate water supply and sanitation service delivery with water resources management and climate action. Failure to do this will not only undermine public health and the empowerment of women and girls, but will also profoundly impact economic growth. This is why the actions that will come from this year’s SMM are so critical right now.
A Compact for Action
While the SMM's principal focus is on nationally-led action, it will also contribute significantly to the intergovernmental water process, including COP30 and the 2026 UN Water Conference,,by encouraging a multi-sectoral dialogue involving various stakeholders covering all aspects of water security.
The link between the SMM and SWA’s Heads of State Initiatives (HoSI) are vital, recognising that political leadership at the highest level is needed to remove bottlenecks in integration and generate momentum beyond the direct sphere of influence of any sector minister. HoSI seeks to establish political commitment and translate this into concrete results.
To promote the integration of water and sanitation, water resource management and climate action, and reinforce the value of HoSI, the 2025 SMM will launch a High-level Leaders Compact on Water Security and Resilience.
This political declaration will promote the integration of water and sanitation strategies with integrated water resources management and the critical need for sustainable sector financing through nationally led action, while advocating for water and sanitation to be recognised as a fundamental pillar in climate negotiations. The Compact will be an essential milestone for COP30 and the 2026 UN Water Conference in promoting Heads of State Initiatives as a gamechanger to accelerate progress towards water and sanitation targets of Sustainable Development Goals.
Practical Preparation & Support
In April we kicked off a robust six-month-long multi-stakeholder preparatory process which supports ministers in preparing for their participation in the SMM and getting the most out of the meeting. This process involves multiple sectors spanning the water and sanitation, water resource management and climate divide and includes a range of stakeholders, who will gather under government leadership to assess the progress achieved to date, highlight key bottlenecks and successes, and identify practical actions needed to integrate water and sanitation, water resource management and climate action, to improve performance and to attract a greater share of domestic and private finance.
As a result, ministers and government leaders arrive to the SMM ready to problem-solve and take collective action. Ministers, working in concert with their development partners, are well placed to address the complex challenges facing them---taking concrete actions to drive integration, introducing and accelerating reforms that will strengthen performance, build resilience, and attract the finance needed to achieve universal access. This year’s Sector Ministers’ Meeting will support them in that.
By Sanitation and Water for All (SWA)
Accelerating Global Action in Water, Sanitation & Environment
This October, the government of Spain will host SWA’s 2025 Sector Ministers' Meeting. Despite the turbulent times in which we find ourselves, I am excited to be involved in the preparations for what is the high point of our partnership’s multi-annual cycle. This meeting will break the silos across water, sanitation and environment, and strengthen economic and environmental gains for people and planet.
Spain is uniquely positioned to host this high-level meeting. With its strong policies and technical expertise in integrated water resources management, climate adaptation, and disaster risk reduction, Spain stands at the forefront of global efforts for sustainable development. Just a year after the devastating floods in Valencia, Spain's renewed commitment to climate resilience underscores the urgency and relevance of our shared mission. By hosting the meeting in October, they are providing a vital platform to accelerate global actions that link water, sanitation, and climate resilience.
The Sector Ministers' Meeting presents a unique opportunity to drive collective and coordinated action. Over the past 15 years, SWA's high-level meetings have been the only regular, minister-focused global convenings dedicated to water and sanitation. These gatherings bring together ministers responsible for water, sanitation, and hygiene along with their counterparts responsible for climate, environment, health, and the economy. The Meetings create a space for world leaders to discuss strategies, identify solutions, and explore innovative ways to elevate the political prioritization of water, sanitation, and hygiene.
“In this challenging global context, meetings like this are more than timely, they are indispensable. They offer a one-of-a-kind, safe space for ministers from different sectors to speak openly, exchange insights, and build lasting partnerships. These gatherings convert individual leadership into coordinated momentum, fostering trust, driving bold decisions, and reinforcing national strategies through shared global purpose.”
As we approach key milestones such as COP30 and the 2026 UN Water Conference, this meeting serves as a vital catalyst, aligning national action with international goals and keeping water and sanitation central to sustainable development and climate resilience.
The SMM is an important event in and of itself. But it is also a milestone on our journey to equity, resilience and prosperity. What comes before and what comes after are, in fact, what really count. Let us, therefore, make full use of the next six months to come together at the national level, to prepare our ministers for the Sector Ministers Meeting, and in so doing, to build the foundations to transform shared vision into political will and impact.
