Launching the Global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Sector Resilience Index (HLPF Side Event)

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, welcome and thank you for joining us. Today to launch the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index. My name is Sam Morton. It's my pleasure to moderate today's session, and it's a session that could not be more timely because, as we all know, as we all experience, hardly a week goes by without news of another climate-related event, conflict, example of despair, displacement, disease outbreak, or economic pressure, all of which place unprecedented strain on water, sanitation, and hygiene systems around the world. What does that look like in practice? It means a very practical strain on public health, on communities' livelihoods, on people's dignity, and ultimately the social cohesion that keeps countries strong and productive. The figures before us are almost too large to comprehend. More than 2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water. More than 3 billion people lack safely managed sanitation. Nearly 2 billion people lack basic hygiene services. And behind each of these incredible figures are children, girls, families, mothers, people living with disabilities, inevitably the most vulnerable. Yet the challenge before us is not simply one of access. Increasingly, it's a challenge of resilience. How do we ensure that WASH systems continue to function when confronted by droughts, floods, conflict, and economic shock? How do we move then from responding to crises towards anticipating and preventing them? That's the central question that brings us together. A key part of the answer to that question is the focus of our discussion today: the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index. It's more than a measurement tool. It provides governments, development partners, and investors with an evidence base to better understand vulnerabilities, prioritize investments, and strengthen resilient WASH systems before crises occur. Today's discussion is therefore not simply about data, but how we use that data, how resilience metrics inform policy, how evidence guides sustainable investments, and how partnerships can translate analysis into action for communities most at risk. To kick off our discussion, I'm delighted to welcome our first speaker, His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Waseel, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations. Saudi Arabia's leadership in ensuring continuity of WASH services in the face of external shocks is something from which we can all learn. Your Excellency.

Thank you, Madam Moderator, and good afternoon everyone, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. It is my pleasure to welcome you to this important event marking the launch of the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index. Allow me first to express my sincere appreciation to UNICEF and to its partners for convening this timely event and for their leadership in developing this important initiative. We gather today at a time when water systems across the world are facing increasingly complex and interconnected Challenges. Climate change, water scarcity, extreme weather events, conflicts, and humanitarian crises continue to place growing pressure on essential services and underscore the need to strengthen their resilience. These realities remind us that achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6, is no longer solely about expanding access to water and sanitation services. It is equally important ensuring that these systems remain reliable, adaptable, and capable of withstanding future shocks. For the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, water security and the resilience of water systems Water systems are strategic national priorities. Guided by Saudi Vision 2030, the Kingdom has adopted a comprehensive approach that combines long-term planning, technological innovation, sustainable water resources management, and continued investment in resilience of infrastructures. As one of the world's most water-scarce countries, Saudi Arabia has learned that resilience is not determined by the absence of challenges, but by ability to anticipate risks, adapt to change, and ensure the continuity of essential services. In this regard, we welcome the launch of the Global Wise Water Sector Resilience Index. Evidence-based tools such as this can help governments strengthen planning, identify vulnerabilities, prioritize investments, and promote more resilient and sustainable water systems. At the same time, building resilience is a shared responsibility. It requires stronger international cooperation, effective partnerships, knowledge exchange, innovation, and sustained investments to ensure that no country is left behind in addressing today's water-related challenges. As we look ahead to the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, today's discussion provides a valuable opportunity to advance a more integrated and forward-looking approach that places resilience at the heart of global efforts to achieve water security and sustainable development. I congratulate UNICEF and all its partners on this important initiative, and I wish you all a productive successful discussion. Thank you.

Thank you, Your Excellency. I think you have to leave, but thank you very much for your time. Now I'd like to invite our second speaker, Mr. Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Relief and Reduction, for his remarks. Framing the broader UN prevention agenda.

Thank you, thank you very much, Excellencies, colleagues and friends. It's really my pleasure to join UNICEF and its partners at the launch of the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index. It's a very important and timely contribution to the broader resilience agenda. The resilient water sanitation and hygiene systems are essential for human well-being and dignity. When they fail, the impacts do not stay just in the wash sector. They affect everything. They affect health, they affect education, they affect food security, they affect livelihoods, they affect social stability, and they erode hard-won development gains. More than 11 years since the adoption of Sendai Framework, we've made great progress in saving lives, but on the other indicators of Sendai Framework, in terms of number of people affected by disasters, economic impacts, in terms of infrastructure disruptions, we've made no progress. And that cannot be achieved unless we achieve resilience in the water sector. I think this is really a fundamental, critical infrastructure service to societies,. It's a systemic thing which really needs to be built in a manner that it is resilient to all kinds of shocks. So in that context, the index which is being launched, launched today is an important contribution. It will reflect a risk-based approach, risk-informed approach, which is at the heart of Sendai Framework as well. It means that we understand where hazards occur, how they affect water systems,— who is exposed to them, how those wash systems are vulnerable.

But we don't—

as the moderator just said, we don't just stop at measuring the resilience, but we also begin to see what would it take to enhance resilience by taking practical measures. If you are in a floodplain, what kind of measures you need to make— to take to ensure that wash systems are not affected by floods. Similarly, drought-prone areas, other hazards, as well as other kinds of shocks that can occur. So I really hope that when we launch this index, it triggers a whole series of actions at the ground level, practical things which help us build resilience into water systems. At UNDRR, we will be watching very closely, working very closely with our partners in taking this to the ground and achieving resilience for all. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. It's now my pleasure to welcome Mr. Evariste Kouassi Komlan, the Director of Global WASH Practice at UNICEF, to share the presentation on the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index.

Thank you very much, Moderator. First of all, I just want to thank Excellencies and partners who are here today for this event, and also thank all the partners who contribute strongly to make this index tool a reality. But thank you, and also particularly the International Institute of Environmental Research. In Stockholm who, you know, support the whole study as well. So I need to go on the slide one by one. The first point I want to make, and then the ambassador already made this point very clearly, we are on age, an age of the crisis, multi-crisis, where we have seen, you know, rising global fragility everywhere up to The estimation is that by 2050, more than 4 billion people might be in a fragile context, making a global shift to instability and also fragility. In the same time, those crises that we are living into, they are quite more interconnected, that are more frequent, and also driven by climate change, conflict, and economic volatility. That we have seen also. Those impacts, many impacts are related to how the services are provided to the population, particularly in the water and sanitation system, which are in a stretch in the country itself and also through the transport system as well. So there's a need to shift the game, not the traditional way that we are working, but also do things totally differently. And first of all, as an impact, the children are the most— the hardest hit when we have multi-crisis, including children who are affected by humanitarian condition in different places. You know, over 170 million people need humanitarian aid today, with half of them are in a displaced situation. And also face different vulnerability. The mortality risk from WASH failure is very high. When the crisis hit, the WASH is the first to be called upon and then the last to go, and children under 5 are quite affected, and the mortality in some of the situations are very high due to those crises that we are facing as well. This also impacts the children's well-being and also in terms of nutrition, education, protection, as well as, you know, the impact that it do to economic development and also the children's development as well. So there's a need to have a better investment in terms of resilience, how we sustain the service, water and sanitation service, to make sure that we reduce those kind of vulnerability on the children. So in addition to the STEM— see, water and sanitation system, which was totally in track in the beginning, like the moderator say, 2.2 billion people are not having access to water and sanitation. And if you want to change the ball game, I was doing the calculation this morning. Every year we are adding more or less 93 million people who are having access, basically, compared to 2 billion who need to have access, the gap is huge. It's more or less 20 times. So the system is already vulnerable, but if you are adding more vulnerability due to many other factors, we are stretching much the whole system. And this is due to many factors. The first one is financing, which creates a lot of inequality, not only on household, but also on the government and the public sector side. The second one is a challenge that we face related to the governance of the country. And when we are doing this study, we are having a deep dive in some of the countries like DRC, Congo, where we have seen issues like governance affecting the vulnerability for the children, for example. And then, you know, how we also measure or have a new way of approaching the change that we want to make a different way. So we, in the sector, if you want to maintain the fact that we are having 98 million people every year having additional access to water services, to reduce the gap, we need to make sure that those people who have today continue having those systems in the future. So it's very important of that. If you don't do that,, we are going to create more gap for the sector to fill in the future. So there's a need to have a systematic shift for the prevention and move the sector from reactive to the crisis to more preventing and long-term thinking as well. We need to invest in the preparedness and response and also build more resilience system that benefit more population. And gradually also have integration of resilience in what we do all over the place. So why with the partners together? We thought that, you know, the Global Water and Sanitation Resilience Index is very important, basically, and I'm very glad that, you know, the Ambassador alluded on that later on. It's more a comprehensive resilient measurement that help most of the country to make the decision based on many factor. That increase the great hazard exposure, vulnerability, ecosystem, and also infrastructure of the community. This also creates a sort of evidence base for decision-making at the government level and advocates for better investment for the country in the sector and also bridging the data gap and also some of the actions. So how it works is more risk-based approach, like you hear already. And the systemic way of addressing each of the components of the vulnerability. And this has also some of the factors, like I said before, on the governance issue, corruption, policy reform influencing the decision, as well as having more realistic resilience acceptance issue that was discussed. For example, how do you maintain service viability when we have the crisis?. So there's a clear way of doing that. You see on the table that the risk dimension in terms of hazard, exposure, and reliability has been assessed, as well as some of the components related to ecosystem, infrastructure, and community as well. There's a governance issue that is adding up, you know, that we have identified later on that is a key component that maintains the system working as well. So, just to give you some of the examples on some of the specific areas, if you talk about some of the risk dimensions related to hazard and the ecosystem, you have some of the natural hazards that are affecting most of the country and population. In terms of infrastructure, the shock, and also the market instability that, you know, go with that. And then, in terms of governance, you have issues like General infrastructure management, operation management has been one of the factors that we assess in those dimensions as well for the vulnerability. In terms of the community, we— and community and also in terms of exposure, you have issues like health of the population, pollution issue that you need assess, and many other factors as well. So this analysis give us some of the dimension and the result that you can you can see that in this map, which is quite colorful, right? You can see that where you have the risk very high, those are the countries where we know that they are more resilient. Basically, they have a system in place to address water and sanitation issue. And we have seen those countries among the high-income countries totally show where WASH resilience are due and robust and the government is already— governance is already in place. When you have a dark color, less dark color is where the impact is more high, and we have seen that in most of the African countries, a little bit in Asia, they are more affected by those situations. So the system are not very robust there and the government is very slow. In those countries as well. Just to give you an example, we have done a sort of analysis and put in some of the data, not only on climate hazard side, but also for the country who don't have access to water and sanitation service, or where the level of access is lower than 50%. This has a good correlation with the map that we are having now. It means that the governance issues play a huge role. In, you know, driving the assesses most of the countries as well. So this one is very difficult to see, but again, we have done a sort of analysis to see if there might be a correlation between the, you know, the global water and sanitation risk and deaths compared to the informed risk and deaths that is developed by European Union for some of the countries. We have seen no correlation at all. We've seen a negative correlation, meaning that that if the system is quite robust, your risk index will be very low. So this is what we have seen, that having a better system, well managed in most of the developed countries, reduce the risk that, you know, most of the country are facing. We have done the same analysis on what UNICEF Children's Climate Index is about, and we have also— there's a, you know, totally negative trend in terms of correlation because if you have a better risk— no, a better system working with good governance, you have totally— those systems are less affected by climate-related issues as well. So we analyze, you know, what are some of the key drivers basically make the resilience stronger in a different context. One of the areas we look at more closely as a driver is universal access to water, how we can give more priority for equitable access to water and sanitation as a foundation of the resilience. And I was saying on Monday— on Tuesday, during my speech here, is we usually use water and sanitation service as outcome, but it has to be a foundation., right? You know, you see most of the community where every building is in place is where they put the pipe, basically, to supply the community. It should be other way around, and that will create a sort of system that make the system working better, and then you can develop a better infrastructure to move the sector forward. The second pillar is more the strengthening of the governance system. This has to enhance the policy regulation in the country, have a better monitoring system and also a good framework to build the resilience in the country. And then the third component is risk-informed integrated approach, how we can adopt a new strategy addressing multiple crises and multiple hazards, integrating also humanitarian development inside the way that we program our our intervention. And the last piece of key driver related to the coordinated investment and action, how we sustain investment and also operation and maintenance for the system through along the whole process of intervention. So I talk a lot about the target. Now I want to talk about the finance, and many people are talking about the finance. The need for the sector is very huge. I was talking earlier on,— in terms of if you want basically to reduce the 2.2 billion who don't have assets, you need to make sure that we multiply by more or less 19. And here, the sector basically will be needing more than $114 billion every year to make sure that we have investment to address water and sanitation issue. But those are some of the costs that related to water. We need to add some of the component related to resilience on those issues as well. The cost-effectiveness of resilience is one of the key shifts that needs to happen. We need to invest in the resilience of the system to make sure that the service will span many other crises in the future as well. To close the financing gap is one of the areas, and everyone is talking about domestic resource mobilization, which is also very important, but also The fund that exists in most of the country, how do we make them more efficient so that they can basically address resilience issue as well? And the strategic investment and partnership, we need to build more partnership, leveraging what the partners are doing already that can demonstrate a big scale, not reinventing the wheel. So some of the direction of that might be very important. Some of the takeaway, very quickly, This one is more how do we shift, you know, the whole game. Resilient water systems build stronger society and assure sustainable development and outcome for the community. This is one of the takeaways. The second one is the value of the Global Water and Sanitation Sector Risk Index tool helps to understand the risk, prioritize action, and also guide strategic investment in the future. Then the third takeaway is a call of action to have more proactive intervention in different way, whatever we are developing the system. Then the last one is now. We need to act now, not tomorrow, but now. Start acting now to make sure that those investments that you are working in water and sanitation become more resilient. Thank you very much. I give back the floor to the moderator. Thank you for your attention.

All right, we got that message loud and clear. Action now. Okay, so as we wait for the first councillor to come from Senegal, perhaps we'll go to our panel, and I am pleased to introduce them to you. Today's panel is themed around measuring resilience to accelerating action. Our three panelists today are Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Qahtani, Director General from the Department of Water Resource Studies and Modeling in the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Thank you for joining us. Mr. Mouattwa Settali, the Acting CEO of Sanitation and Water for All, and Miss Lana Warakat, the representative for UNICEF in the Gulf Area Office. The first question I would like to ask is around risk-informed planning and governance, why resilience is so important and how resilience metrics can inform planning and policy decisions. So the question is, why is resilience so important for your country or your organization? How can tools such as the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index help governments move from reactive approaches towards more risk-informed and resilient planning? And what other actions are key for governments? So, Dr. Abdulaziz, if I can start with you.

Thank you, Madam Moderator. So for Saudi Arabia, resilience is not a choice, it's the foundation of water sector. As one of the world's most water-scarce countries, we have learned that resilience must be designed into the system long time ago before a crisis occurs. Over the past decade, we have transformed our water sector by diversifying by diversifying water sources through desalination, expanding treated wastewater reuse, strengthening strategic storage, modernizing transmission networks, and introducing integrated sector governance. At the same time, we have invested heavily in digital monitoring, water quality management, emergency readiness, and risk-informed planning. One of our strongest demonstration of resilience is the annual Hajj. Every year we provide safe water and sanitation services for millions of pilgrimages within a very short period under challenging climate conditions. This requires multiple institutions operating as one integrated system with redundancy, real-time monitoring, contingency planning, and rapid response capabilities. It reminds us that resilience is as much about governance and coordination, and it's about infrastructure. This is why we welcome the launch of the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index. It reflects an important evolution from measuring access alone to assessing whether systems can continue delivering services under stress. This is exactly the direction countries need to move toward. As we prepare for the 11th For World Water Forum in Riyadh 2027 and UN 2026 Conference this year, resilience will be one of the cross-cutting priorities across our thematic, regional, and political processes. Our objective is to help shift the global conversation from reacting to crisis toward building systems that anticipate, absorb, adapt, and recover. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Lana, could I turn to you next?

Thanks a lot. Thank you. If we look at the resilience agenda, and I just come back from the ISDB annual meeting where they launched their 3R facility that focuses on response response, recovery, as well as resilience, we can see that there is basically a big focus and shift because specifically for water security, it's no longer a service delivery issue. It is a national— it's national resilience, public health, economic and social stability. So we're looking at really far-reaching impact and complex issues that are also multi-sectoral. In the Gulf, this is very real, and GCC countries operate in one of the world's most water-scarce regions, as my colleague just mentioned, with high dependence on desalination, rising demands, climate pressures, heat stress, and limited natural freshwater resources. So this means that WASH systems must not only expand access but also remain under shock, whether climate-related, economic, operational, or humanitarian. This index provides governments with really very good evidence-based to see where risks are concentrated, where systems are vulnerable, and where investments will have the highest impact. And we're talking about investments not only domestically but globally, because we're talking about the GCC countries who are also supporting many countries not only financially but also through South-to-South and triangular cooperation. From the UNICEF perspective, there are three priorities: to use data to guide policy and investment, and this is really key. Key, so that's really a very much needed tool to help identify gaps and link them to water strategies as also, as well as investments. Second, invest in systems, not only infrastructure. And this means strengthening governance, regulations, maintenance, financing models, emergency preparedness, and I can think of many contexts where we can see now how the member state states in the GCC are supporting within the same direction. Third, connect the domestic innovation of what the GCC member states are doing in their regions with a global solidarity model. Again, I've mentioned that they're investing in desalination, reuse, digital water management, AI-enabled monitoring, climate smart infrastructure, and we can see a lot of exchange with other member states for support. I think we also are working with the different member states to prepare for key upcoming events. The UAE upcoming water conference is really important, and we have delegates also from UAE to speak to that. Our also partners in Qatar, I mean, they really also demonstrated how development cooperation can be holistic.

It's—

they really invested heavily in education, but made sure that access to learning is also recognized. The child needs safe and enabling environment, including water availability, sanitation, hygiene, dignity in schools. So this also speaks to a multi-sectoral approach that we and our partners in the GCC are really investing in. And I'm sure that their presence here, they will also speak to the systems that they have. Thank you.

Mr. Satale, over to you, please.

Thank you very much. Good afternoon. First of all, I'd like to congratulate UNICEF for putting together this really timely index. As the previous speakers have mentioned, we live in a world where crises are multiplying and they are overlapping. Almost everywhere. But I think what we saw also from the presentation that Evariste made is that there are countries which are better prepared than others. And I think this type of preparedness is needed across the board, because when it comes to Sustainable Development Goals, it's no one left behind, it's universal access, and the numbers are huge in terms of what needs to be achieved. Sanitation and Water for All is a global partnership of more than 500 institutions and nearly 100 among these are governments, and most of those governments are likely to fall in the bracket that Evaristo pointed out where this challenge is actually quite significant. So for Sanitation and Water for All, resilience is fundamental because water and sanitation are not simply services. They are the foundation of healthy societies, resilient economies, and sustainable development. When water and sanitation systems fail, the impacts extend far beyond the sector itself. They affect public health, food security, education, gender, and as we heard, that list is quite exhaustive. Now, we do work a lot with ministers in sanitation and water for all. We work with political leaders, heads of state, and ministers. And the things that they care for are things that I believe you also care for, and they comprise about 3 S's.. So one is speed of how we're going to achieve this huge number of services that need to be delivered. Can we do it very— can we do it fast enough? So speed is one of the issues, and then scale is another. Can we bring these services to as many people as possible? Sustainability is another one. Can these services last once they are delivered? Resilient cuts across all those three things. It helps you to achieve sustainability, helps you to get to the— to have these services with as many people as possible, and once you think about resilience, you would then be protecting the services that you have. And to do that, you need systems, which is why I think the governance angle that was mentioned in the presentation is very important, because you can't just look at infrastructure. You also need to look at the policies and the systems systems that make sure that these services are in place. To finalize, I'd like to bring you back to COVID. When COVID hit, we in Sanitation and Water for All, together with UNICEF and others, brought together a number of ministers. I remember one of the ministers in that room saying, "What if this doesn't go away soon enough?" How do we make sure that we're able to have the investment, we have the policies that respond to this, and we're able to have the services that actually last?. We were talking at the time about building back better, but I think the issue is not about building back better, it's about building forward better. How can we make sure that with resilience we're actually putting in systems that actually can stand the test of time, ensure that our investments are protected and they protect us from the regression risk, which we face at the moment because with the SDGs there's a lot of progress also that has happened and this progress can be washed away if we do not have resilient systems in place. We need to avoid building back the same, but in order for us to be able to move forward, we need to be building forward better. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Sattali. Now, I am pleased to say that we have been joined by Dr. Mohammed Dayata, the First Counsellor of the Minister of Hydraulics and sanitation from Senegal. So I'm going to suggest, if it is okay, that we, we hear from you now, and then we'll come back to the second round of questions for the panel. We know that Senegal is a country that has taken an integrated approach to resilience response, and so we very much look forward to hearing about that.

Thank you, Moderator. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk on behalf of Senegal as also chairperson of the 26th UN Water Conference for Senegal. Allow me to begin by expressing Senegal's sincere appreciation to UNICEF and all the partners who have contributed to the development of the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index. This initiative comes at At the right time, it provides countries with the practical tools to better understand their vulnerabilities, strengthen decision-making, and guide investment where resilience is most needed. For Senegal, resilience is becoming a guiding principle across our entire water agenda. As co-host of the 26th UN Water Conference, together with the United Arab Emirates, We believe that the resilience of water systems must become an integral part of the broader conversations on water security, climate adaptation, and sustainable development. Recent crises have reminded us that resilience infrastructure alone is not enough. Resilient water also depends on strong institutions. Reliable information, sustainable financing, and effective governance. They require us to anticipate risks rather than simplify response to emergencies. This is the approach that Senegal has chosen through our national water compact— our national water security compact that we launched during the spring meeting of the World Bank. We are embedded resilience across the entire water cycle, from protecting water resources and expanding access to drinking water and sanitation, to improving water governance, mobilizing investment, and strengthening climate adaptation and enabling environment attracting fund. At the same time, the Blue Fund that Senegal is developing seeks to create a a financing mechanism capable of supporting long-term investments in water security and resilience. Our ambition is to better connect climate finance, development finance, and water investment while ensuring that the most vulnerable communities are not left behind. We see these initiatives not as isolated programs, but as complementary building blocks of the more resilient water future. The Global Wash Sector Resilience Index can play an important role in this journey. I can help— it can help countries establish baselines, monitor progress, prioritize investment, accountability. More importantly, it can help create a common language among government development partners and financial expertise. In closing, dear colleagues, the 26th UN Water Conference offers a unique opportunity to place resilience at the center of the global water agenda, not only as a response to climate change, but a driver for sustainable development goals. Senegal remains committed to working with UNICEF and all partners to ensuring that resilience become a shared ambition supported by strong institutions, better financing, and concrete action. And we look forward to welcoming you and all this network to the 26th UN Water Conference that Senegal is co-hosting with the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi in December 26th. I thank you.

Thank you very much. All right, so let us return to round 2 of our panel. The second question today focuses on financing partnerships and action. Understanding risk is only the first step. The larger challenge is how we convert that evidence into action. We've heard that resilience WASH systems require long-term investment, stronger institutions, and new or strengthened partnerships. So, let me ask the panelists, what can the international community and partners do to make the shift from fragmented projects and reactive approaches to resilient WASH systems at scale? What new partnerships or financing models do we need, and what role should your institution play in making it happen? Maybe you're already doing it. It would be great to hear. Mr. Sattali, let me start this time with you.

Thank you. I would like to start by stating that for Sanitation and Water for All, strengthening resilience is not one objective among many. It is the foundation for achieving SDG 6, because like I was mentioning earlier, the regression risk is high if you're not planning and incorporating these vulnerabilities and the risks that are there, because you could make progress and then it might— you could have All that progress washed away if you've not planned for how you're going to bounce back. For us, this is not one objective among many. It is the foundation for achieving SDG 6 and for supporting countries to build more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable societies. Now, this is a fundamental question that you've just asked, Moderator, regarding the different partnerships, financing models, and also what we're doing as a partnership. As a partnership, we're focusing a lot on what kind of information and evidence is provided to decision-makers, the political decision-makers, so that they could be making the right decisions in terms of institutions, policies, capacities, where to place that capacity, and be able to ensure that even the last mile, even the communities that do not have the services actually are provided the services, but they also, they have the sufficient mechanisms to bounce back in the case of problems. So one is how do we get this evidence to the right decision makers so they could create the right partnerships, the ministries of finance, the ministries responsible for economy, sometimes it's the same as the minister of finance. So we work in that area and I think this is an important area that needs to continue to have the focus. We also work with heads of state because these disasters, when they occur,, they actually affect all these services and sectors that we talked about. As Evaristo mentioned, water is called upon first and it is the last one to leave. We cannot leave this issue out of the table of the head of state, out of the table of the head of government. As they make these decisions, it is important that they also take into consideration how water and sanitation is really catered for in terms of these challenges. We work with a number of partners to create compacts or initiatives that are supported by the head of that can also include critical reforms supported also by different institutions. The third and final one that I will mention is accountability. Accountability is important across all many things that we do, and partnerships that focus on how can we build in action and be able to come back to the table and learn so that we do not repeat the same mistakes, so that there can be course correction. And so this aspect of accountability is crucial. So number one, evidence, getting that evidence in the right decision-makers, getting the political leaders to be supported in order to provide the leadership that is required. Accountability is also crucial. In terms of financing models, there are quite a lot. We've held meetings for ministers of finance where we've heard of insurance schemes that can help, so there are a myriad of solutions that are out there. What's important is that they should respond to the context. So in working with the governments, with the prime ministers or heads of state,. We're really looking for solutions that respond to the context and that are also inclusive and that they take into consideration these critical points that have just been discussed today. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Lana, can we turn to you next?

Thanks a lot. Thank you. So, when we talk about the shift I think that when it comes to financing, we need to look also at the programming aspects and how we really try and move from project-by-project intervention to a long-term investment in national systems. And this means that we have to have really good evidence and understanding about also the underlying causes where we need to address to ensure that we build resilience. And that really requires also predictable financing stronger institutions, better data partnerships that are designed around country priorities rather than fragmented funding windows. And for UNICEF, this is really important because we work across the full continuum—before, during, and after a crisis. We lead and support WASH response in humanitarian setting as the lead for the Interagency Standing Committee for the WASH Cluster, and we basically see and how we basically operated on water systems, whether in Syria, uh, before, during, and after the war, now in Sudan, uh, and other— and in many other contexts. So being throughout the whole, um, uh, response and the recovery and the rehabilitation phase is really important because you pick what kind of programs that you need to have for long-term sustainability. So financing needs to become more strategic and risk-informed. Gulf partners already, whether it's KSA, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and others, they are major contributors to both humanitarian and development. And now they're more and more asking us, is this sustainable? Is this the right intervention? And that's really important. And this is basically what this index is also trying to basically present. It's a tool that brings in evidence. Also integrated partnerships, not isolated projects, that's really important. And how WASH is linked to health, nutrition, education, climate adaptation, so that we basically achieve the required results. Water access in schools affect attendance, dignity, hygiene, and learning. WASH in nutrition programming help prevent disease and support child survival. So for us, we would like to keep the whole multi-sectoral also linked and really to justify and strengthen for the— for the WASH investment. Third, we should also scale innovation and technical cooperation. GCC countries can continue bringing strong experience in desalination, water reuse, digital monitoring, AI-enabled systems, climate-smart infrastructure. Infrastructure. These are very important capabilities that can be matched with UNICEF's field presence in 190 countries and territories and with partners. And that's what we're looking at, much more smarter interventions, and that we get support from the GCC not only on financing, but so that they also provide experiences to other countries. So the role of the international community is to align the financing, evidence, and technical expertise entities behind national systems, even if it's an emergency or crisis, even at the onset when it happens, we really want to think about long term. If we're basically distributing water to impacted or affected population, is this sustainable? Are there any ways even with access constraint and other basically challenges, can we put something that is more sustainable? That's really important, and this is a question we have to ask in all settings.

Thank you, Lana. And now let me turn to Dr.

Abdul Aziz. So extending to my esteemed colleagues' mention, resilience cannot be built by one institution or even one country alone. Water connects sectors, community, and nations, so resilience must be built through partnerships at every level. First, we need stronger partnership between governments, development partners, international organizations, academia, and private sector to combine policy, finance, innovation, and implementation. Each has a distinct role, but resilience only emerges when they work together around a shared objective. Second, we need to strengthen the bridge between humanitarian response and long-term development. Too often investments begin after crisis. We should instead invest before the crisis occur using tools such as the Global Water Sector Resilience Index to guide risk-informed planning and prioritize resilience infrastructure and governance. Third, knowledge sharing is essential. Countries facing very different conditions all have valuable lesson to offer. We have learned important lesson from operating resilient system under extreme extreme water scarcity and managing one of the world's largest recurring mass gatherings. At the same time, we continue to learn from experiences across every region of the world. Ultimately, resilience is not measured by the infrastructure we build, but by our collective ability to ensure that people continue to receive safe and reliable water and sanitation services, especially when they need them the most.

Thanks. Thank you very much. And now we're going to turn to some brief interventions from the floor. It's my pleasure to ask Her Excellency Dr. Sheikha Al Dhaeri, the Secretary General of the Environmental Agency of UAE, to take the floor.

Thank you, Chair. First of all, let me congratulate you on launching the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index, and definitely we cannot strengthen what we cannot measure. And for too long, resilience has been something we hoped for rather than something we plan, finance, and build. I speak from one of the most water-scarce environments on Earth. In Abu Dhabi, almost all of our drinking water comes from desalination. So resilience is not an abstraction. It is the difference between a system that can absorb a shock and one that cannot. We have learned to treat it as a portfolio— diversified sources, protected reserves such as our Liwa Strategic Aquifer Store, reused water, and all above all data, including a groundwater atlas of more than 118,000 wells. One reflection for the index: let it reward not only the coverage we hold today, but the capacity to keep delivering tomorrow. And let it connect WASH to the whole water cycle from source to sea. This December, the United Arab Emirates with Senegal will host the UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi, and definitely we invite you to bring this index and this conversation with you so that we turn measurement into commitment and commitment into systems that hold.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any other interventions?. Okay, so Henry, over to you.

Good afternoon, my name is Henry Maidu and I have the privilege of speaking on behalf of the McGill Youth Advisory Delegation to the United Nations from Montreal, Canada. As the panel has already mentioned eloquently, youth in displacement settings are disproportionately affected by inadequate wash systems. Consequently facing heightened risks to their health, safety, and education. As the Global Wash Sector Resilience Index is rolled out, how can it continue to develop itself not only to capture the specific vulnerabilities young people face in these contexts, but also to actively empower them as agents of resilience building within their own communities, rather than treating them solely as vulnerable populations to be measured. Thank you.

Would anyone like to respond to that?

Sitali?

Sitali, do you want to start?

Yes, thank you very much. I think I was— I liked what you mentioned, our colleague from from the UAE, where you talked about hope and planning, because I think in most cases we rely on hope as a plan. I think this type of issue really requires some good thinking in terms of what's going to happen, but also the investments behind that. I've been involved in a number of fragile contexts where you do this type of planning, but because the resources are not there, you end up just putting a wish list there. So it needs to be really beyond the wish list. It needs to be a list that is, of course, realistic, but it also needs to be backed by resources, and that cuts across institutions, cuts across the different types of partnerships. I just wanted to reiterate that part, and, of course, to also agree with you, Henry, about the fact that this is an issue that cannot be resolved just by one institution, even if that institution was well-endowed with resources. It is This is an issue that requires almost all of society, different types of institutions and types of stakeholders. Within Sanitation and Water for All, we work with different stakeholders—service providers, utilities, private sector, but also civil society, as well as the different government agencies. Just to reiterate this component about ensuring that this type of thinking, planning, and responses, investments will require different types of institutions. Institutions, and that needs to be managed well and combined in an effective way so that there could be efficiency.

Thank you. Thank you, Sitali. Evariste, do you want to come in?

Yeah, no, so addressing the whole water and sanitation issue is more or less the whole society approach, right? It's not a single individual partnership, but it's whole society, including all level of political component, all the constituencies in the country, different groups, including people with disabilities, young people, gender component as well. And actually, one of the key areas that we might be thinking more is to strengthen capacity for the whole sector. And the young people constitute one of the sources where we need to dig into and capacity them to have those kind of knowledge so that, you know, they can— wherever they go, whether it's advocacy or implementation, integrate resilient building in whatever they do. So it's a big component of our program looking forward, that young people engagement become more predominant in how we do— what we shape the whole water and sanitation agenda for the future as well. Thank you.

All right. So in the interests of time, let us move on. If anybody has any other intervention— Questions? How are we doing? Time. I'll take one more over here.

Hello, everyone. My name is Dr. Alejandro Gonzalez, and I'm here representing INCISION, a global organization of surgical professionals committed to strengthening surgical systems and advancing equitable access to safe surgical care worldwide. Safe surgery depends on resilient health systems, and reliable watch services are fundamental to preventing surgical site infections and ensuring quality surgical care. How does the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index plan to measure the stringent WASH resilience specifically in healthcare facilities? Do you envision opportunities to integrate surgical system indicators into the framework to better support safe and equitable surgical care, particularly in low and middle-income countries? And, uh, second question is, UNICEF has been a global leader in advancing both WASH and nutrition. Considering that malnutrition and inadequate WASH significantly increase the risk of poor surgical outcomes, particularly for children, how is UNICEF promoting integrated strategies that connect WASH and nutrition within the primary healthcare systems? Thank you.

Okay, thank you for that.

Evariste, would you like to—

Yeah, those are quite fundamental questions. For WASH in healthcare facility, we have another tool called WASH FIT, which basically describes some of the steps that are very important from improving water and sanitation systems in her care facility and making sure that the system continues running forever. But we still have a lot of challenges, whether in the middle-income country, low-income country, the investment to water and sanitation to our wash care facilities remains very low. But now we have a good business case that basically helps move the needle forward. And then your second question is very important in the fact The fact that when we consider, you know, I was saying in one of the conferences last time, say, as we consider glove or, you know, cotton, you know, compress in a healthcare facility, water and sanitation should be considered as the same thing. They have the same importance, but they are not having that as well. So when I took my position, I went to one of the villages in Kenya called Kisumu. And then, you know, people are still carrying— women, pregnant women are still carrying water in the bucket to come to school— to healthcare facility. Those are the things that we need to work closely. It's not only UNICEF job, but it's more a coalition of the partner. You have to have a standard process. Those are the standard process that we are working on. It's quite linked with the, you know, global index, because one of the key components of the global index is the accessibility of the community., which is lacking, basically. So when you don't have access to water and sanitation, the index and the government has a totally low weight in the whole process. So it's a key component, whether it's school or healthcare facility, the access becomes predominant to shift the needle in the index as well.

Thank you. Thank you, Evariste. Okay, in the interests of time, I'm going to move on to our concluding remarks, but if you have any interventions that you would like to share, I think we are going to share an email address and we can, we can respond to you there. So as we end the— as we near the end of our session today, I'd like to invite two speakers to share their closing reflections. First of all, Ms. Shaima Hussain Gargash, the Director of Energy and Sustainability Affairs from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the United Arab Emirates.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, distinguished guests and colleagues. It's a real pleasure to be here with you today, and apologies for coming in a little bit late. I was just in another session next door. You can really feel the momentum around water and SDG 6 throughout this week's High-Level Political Forum, and the timing could not be more fitting as the UAE prepares to host, to convene the 2026 UN Water Conference, co-hosted by UAE and Senegal, in Abu Dhabi from 8th to 10th December. Let me begin by first congratulating UNICEF and its partnership on the launch of the Global WASH Sector Resilience Index. This is truly a valuable and timely contribution, and for too long we have measured progress in this sector by access alone. With 2.1 billion people still lack— lacking access to safely managed drinking water services and nearly 4 billion people experiencing severe scarcity for at least one month every year, access must be prioritized, yet it's not at the same as resilience. A system that delivers water today and cannot withstand a flood, a drought, or a shock tomorrow is not a system we can build a future on. And by benchmarking resilience across hazard vulnerability, service performance, and governance, this index really gives governments and partners a clear evidence-based picture of where the real risks lie. We welcome that, and we recognize its added value to the global water and sanitation agenda. And we're also confident that this is making a significant contribution to the preparations for the 6 interactive dialogues of the 2026 UN Water Conference, whose themes were adopted by consensus exactly a year ago here at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. And I would particularly like to highlight the dedicated theme on water for people, because people will always be our North Star. Water is life. It is a basic human right. It is the foundation for safety, stability, economic development, and opportunities for all. And this is why for the first time we explicitly included the phrase, including, including for those in vulnerable situations within this theme, reaffirming our commitment to leave no one behind. And at the same time, we recognize that the six interactive dialogues do not exist in silos. They are deeply interconnected. And mutually reinforcing. And that is also why resilience is explicitly reflected in the Water for Planet theme, recognizing that protecting ecosystems and strengthening resilience are inseparable from ensuring water access and improving people's lives. And this topic particularly resonates with the United Arab Emirates. We are one of the most, as mentioned by Her Excellency Dr. Rashid, we're one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, and yet we have achieved received near universal access to clean water and sanitation. And that did not happen by chance. It is the product of visionary leadership and sustained investment, innovation. Water has been treated as a national priority at the highest level, recognizing its value for society, the environment, and prosperity. And our belief and commitment have never stopped at our own borders. From the Zayed Wells, which continue to serve millions of people worldwide over the course of decades, to the Mohammed bin Zayed Water Initiative, focused on the development and deployment of technical— technological innovation to address water scarcity, from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Water Award, which supports research and development of new innovation and technologies to address challenges that are faced by poverty and disaster, um, stricken communities worldwide, and earlier This year, we also launched the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development's Global Water Platform, aiming to reach 10 million people by 2030. And the UAE consistently worked on— worked to turn it into its own experience into solutions for the world's most vulnerable. We're also proud of our longstanding contribution to the global effort to eradicate Guinea worm disease, a fight that is very nearly won. And a reminder of what sustained commitment to water can achieve for human dignity and survival. And I share this not to speak for ourselves, but really because these efforts reflect a conviction we know is shared in this room, and that sustainable management of our water resources is stewardship towards our people and our land. Tools like this help us— help all of us— governments, UN partners, operators, and financiers alike to to really invest more wisely and act before crisis strikes. And we congratulate again UNICEF once again, and we look forward to seeing how this index can really inform the collective work ahead, including on the road to the 2026 UN Water Conference. Thank you so much, and I look forward to welcoming you in Abu Dhabi end of the year.

Thank you, Miss Gargash. So I mentioned the email address, it's up on the screen. For those of you who have interventions and would like to share them, we would appreciate you sending them via email. For now, it is my pleasure to welcome His Excellency Lok Baddhawor Thapa, the Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Nepal and the President of ECOSOC, for closing reflections.

Thank you, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues, friends. First, let me thank UNICEF and distinguished speakers and all the participants for engaging and thought-provoking discussions. Though I was not here the whole time, but I believe Today's dialogue has reinforced a broader lesson that extends well beyond the water and sanitation sector. Colleagues, sustainable development depends not only on expanding services, but on strengthening the systems that sustain them through times of uncertainty in times of crisis. The Global World Sector Resilience Index represents an important contribution to that effort. More importantly, it reminds us that evidence has its greatest value when it informs political choices, when it shapes public policy, and when it guides investment towards the people and communities that need it the most. Friends, from the perspective of Nepal, this message carries particular resonance. As a country highly vulnerable to climate change, natural disasters, and geographic challenges, Nepal has seen firsthand how fragile water and sanitation systems can be in the face of floods, landslides, and shifting weather patterns. At the same time, Nepal's progress in expanding access to sanitation, improving community-led approaches demonstrate what is possible when national commitment is matched with local ownership and strong partnerships. Strengthening resilience in worst systems is therefore not an abstract goal, but a practical necessity for safeguarding development gains and protecting vulnerable communities. Dear colleagues, throughout this High-Level Political Forum, we have heard a consistent message: progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals must be faster, more integrated and more resilient. Today's discussion has shown that strengthening water and sanitation systems is central to that ambition.. It advances not only SDG 6, but also health, education, gender equality, climate resilience, and inclusive economic development. The challenge before us is therefore not simply to measure resilience, but to make it a guiding principle of national planning, international cooperation, and sustainable financing. I encourage Member States and all the partners represented here today to build on the momentum created by this launch, to use the evidence now available to strengthen national actions, deepen cooperation, and accelerate implementation. The High-Level Political Forum exists to translate knowledge into actions and commitment into results.. Let today's discussion serve as another step in that collective endeavour. I thank UNICEF for its leadership, and I thank all of you for your continued commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. I thank you.

Thank you, Your Excellency. Rousing words to conclude our event today, but we started a couple of minutes late, so I hope you won't mind if I ask Evariste to finish our session today with a bit of a call to action.

Thank you very much, and also thank you, Excellency, for your kind word. It's clear that there's a call to repeat this session during Abu Dhabi, during the UN Water Conference. So it's one of the calls that we receive, and then we hope that you'll basically make it happen. And then the second call is to come up with something more concrete and have some of the examples on how the index has been implemented in some of the countries. And the third point is that we recognize the resilience as the foundation of what we do. And it has to start in the beginning, and many examples from many countries have shown that very clearly. So development partners and financial institutions need to prioritize investment in the beginning to strengthen resilience before it occur, any crisis occur, that is fundamental. Humanitarian development actor to work more closely together across the prevention, response, recovery continuum, I think is also very important aspect. Private sector innovator research institution also to accelerate the development and deployment of solutions that can strengthen resilience at scale. And then regional organization and political leaders to champion resilience as a strategic investment in stability, prosperity, and sustainable development. I think this is one of the messages for Sanitation and Water for All as well. And all partners to use more evidence, and I'm very happy to hear from UAE that evidence is very important through data management, data generation, through our beta global Water and Sanitation Resilience Index to drive collective action. I stop here and thank you very much.

Thank you, Evariste, and that concludes our session for today. Thank you all very much for your participation, your commitment to strengthening resilience in the WASH sector, and your thoughtful Contributions.