A New Indicator for Water Education under the SDGs, UNESCO-IHP

1. UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP)
Background and initiatives taken
towards a new indicator for Water
Education under the SDGs
Giuseppe Arduino
Division of Water Sciences,
UNESCO International Hydrological Programme
Paris, France
11th meeting of the OECD Water Governance
Initiative
12-13 November 2018
Zaragoza, Spain

2. What is UNESCO IHP ?
The International Hydrological Programme (IHP) is
UNESCO’s intergovernmental scientific cooperation
program on water
It was created in 1975, becoming the first and only
intergovernmental freshwater initiative institutionalized
in the UN system

3. IHP’s Eighth phase 2014-2021
Mobilize
International
Cooperation
Improve
Knowledge and
Innovation
Strengthen the
Science-Policy
Interface
And reach
WATER
SECURITY at all
levels
Science based decisions
Third-party involvement
Water cooperation

4. IHP’s Eighth phase 2014-2021

5. IHP’s Governance
As per its Statutes and Rules of Procedure, the IHP Intergovernmental
Council is composed of 36 UNESCO Member States elected for four
years by the General Conference of UNESCO at its ordinary sessions.
Each of UNESCO’s six electoral regions (North America and Western
Europe; Eastern Europe; Latin America and the Caribbean; Asia and
the Pacific; Africa, and Arab States) elects Member States for
membership in the Council to ensure equitable geographical
distribution and appropriate rotation. The Council ensure planning,
definition of priorities, and supervision of the execution of IHP.
As an Intergovernmental Programme of the UN system devoted to water research,
water resources management, education and capacity building, IHP is governed
by:
It is composed of 6 members elected by the Council for two years
representing the six electoral regions of UNESCO. The IHP Bureau
fixes the dates of the Council sessions, prepares them, supervises the
implementation of its resolutions, and reports to the Council.
The IHP Intergovernmental Council
The IHP Bureau

6. Background and consultation behind the new indicator on
Water Education
In the context of the 2030 Agenda, Member States
representatives recognized the need for a new indicator on
Water Education during the 56th Bureau of the International
Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO, in February 2018.
• consultations were launched with the Permanent Delegations at
UNESCO, notably during the G77+ China meeting on 22 March 2018,
where many Member States expressed their interest in a new
indicator dedicated to Water Education
• In consultation with OECD and WHO, the co-custodian agencies of
6.a.1, IHP discussed and decided on the way forward for this proposal
• IHP attended the plenary session of the UN Inter-agency and Expert
Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs),
from 10 to 12 April 2018 in Vienna.
• The IAEG-SDGs clarified that additional indicators could also be
developed by UN Agencies as simple contributions to the 2030
Agenda, without having to undergo IAEG-SDG’s approval for new
SDG indicators

7. Target 6.a: By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-
building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-
related activities and programmes, including water harvesting,
desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse
of technologies
Indicator 6.a.1: Amount of water- and sanitation-related Official
Development Assistance (ODA) for water- and sanitation-related
activities and programmes that is part of a government coordinated
spending plan
What is already contained in the 2030 Agenda on Water
Education and Capacity Building ?

8. Why a new indicator on Water Education ?
• In many countries, the critical mass of adequately trained human
resources able to study, sustainably manage, and develop freshwater
systems is lacking, and more funding sources and programmes on
Water Education are needed.
• SDG Target 6.a calls for the expansion of international cooperation
and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and
sanitation-related activities and programmes. The only related
indicator (indicator 6.a.1) is about the monitoring of the Official
Development Assistance (ODA) spending plan.
CONCLUSION : 6.a would not be fully monitored without
the addition of a specific indicator on Water Education,
which would contribute to better assess countries capacity
to evaluate and manage water resources at the national
level
To summarize :

9. Actions and follow-up with the taskforce (OECD, UNDP-
CAPNET, IHE Delft and IHP)
23rd Session of the IHP Council adopted last June, Resolution XXIII-9: “IHP support to
Member States towards the proposal for a new sustainable development goal indicator 6.a.2
on Water Education”: Requested the IHP Secretariat to start developing a methodology, in
cooperation with OECD, WHO, and UNEP, for an effective indicator on water education,
within IHP-VIII Theme 6 “Water Education, Key for Water Security”
 Action Panel organized with UNDP-CAPNET on Capacity building, Dushanbe,Tajikistan, June
2018: concluded that a new SDG Indicator on Water Education should be proposed, mapping
on capacity building and water education in Member States to assess the relevance of the
water-related curricula or alternatively develop and internationally recognized framework with
proxy indicators for comparability in order to track progress.
 Side event held in July 2018 at the UN Headquarters in New York, during the HLPF, organized
with IHE Delft, and co-organized by OECD: participants promoted the integration of a new
indicator for water education and concluded that formal and informal education role needs to
be reviewed for SDG6 but also for all the SDGs in order to achieve the 2030 agenda.

10. Actions and follow-up with the taskforce (OECD,
UNDP-CAPNET, IHE Delft and IHP)
A meeting was co-organised between UNESCO-
IHP, IHE Delft, OECD and UNDP-CAPNET at the
IHE Delft Institute for water education in Delft,
the Netherlands, on 4 September 2018: The
taskforce established four groups,
1. Capacity building coordination framework
2. Formal water education systems (tertiary,
postgrade)
3. Technical assistance
4. Awareness-raising of civil society
currently working on possible components of the
indicator, and started developing a methodology.