Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation WHO, addressed to the dialogue session “From the Bandung Spirit Water Summit to the UN 2026 Water Conference” on 6 December 2024:
“Strong water, sanitation and hygiene are fundamental to health in normal circumstances. They become even more important when disasters strike. (…)
For more than six decades, WHO has supported countries to develop their national drinking water standards through our Guidelines on Drinking Water Quality. More recently, WHO has produced guidelines on sanitation and health, and will soon publish guidelines on hand hygiene in communities to prevent pandemics and disease outbreaks.
WHO monitoring and data can also help support countries to direct WASH funding to serve the most vulnerable communities.Let me close with three priorities.
First, we need to respond to the Paris Agreement’s Global Goal on Adaptation, by building more climate-resilient water and sanitation services.
Second, we need longer-term investments in WASH across the humanitarian-development nexus.
And third, we a need a coordinated UN system to support countries to improve WASH and health.The new UN System-wide strategy on water and sanitation is an important step in bringing coherence to a fragmented landscape. Thank you all for your continued commitment to improving water, sanitation and hygiene. WHO remains committed to working with you as part of our commitment to health as a fundamental right – not a privilege – for all people.”
