From the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo:
We are reaching out again to report on the activities of the Social Platform at the high-level meeting in Dakar last January, and to share the next steps of the Mandate ahead of the UN Water Conference.
Assessment of the preparatory events UN Water Conference in Dakar:
From 24 to 26 January 2026, a series of preparatory events for the 2026 United Nations Water Conference took place in Dakar. The Special Rapporteur and members of various organizations of the Platform were present in Dakar, calling for a human rights approach and broad social participation within the Conference. During these three days, the first face-to-face meeting of the Social Platform took place, together with Senegalese social movements. The meeting was followed by a press conference together with the African Water Justice Network to launch the platform. Finally, a meeting of members of the Social Platform was held with representatives from some Member States, including Colombia, Canada, Spain, Slovenia and Germany, with the objective of promoting an informal dialogue that would open up possible alliances to promote the institutionalization of the Conference from a human rights-based approach and broad social participation. Attached you can find a letter from the Special Rapporteur with his assessment of the preparatory meetings in Dakar.
Information and next steps towards the UN Water Conference:
At the meeting in Dakar, the coordinating countries for each of the Conference’s Interactive Dialogues were decided.
ID 1. Water for people: coordinated by Ghana and Switzerland.
ID 2. Water for prosperity: China and Spain coordinate.
ID 3. Water for the planet: coordinated by Egypt and Japan.
ID 4. Water for cooperation: coordinated by Finland and Zambia.
ID 5. Water in multilateral processes: coordinated by Germany and Mexico.
ID 6. Water investments: coordinated by France and South Africa.
During the coming months there will be a series of international events where the agenda of the Water Conference, and in particular the focus of each of the Interactive Dialogues, will continue to be discussed. The main events include:
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UN Water´s meeting: 24-26th March, in Rome.
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Dushanbe Water Process, High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” 2018-2028: 26-27th May, Dushanbe (Tajikistan).
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High-Level Political Forum 2026, organized by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC): 7-15th July, New York (USA).
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World Water Week, organized by SIWI: 23-27th August, Stockholm (Sweden).
Next steps in the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for the Water Conference:
On 24-26 March, the Special Rapporteur will travel to Rome to participate in the UN Water Meeting. This meeting will work on the contents of the Interactive Dialogues. For the occasion, the Special Rapporteur is preparing a set of specific recommendations for each of the Interactive Dialogues on how to promote a human rights-based approach as well as real and meaningful participation by rights holders. In each of the Interactive Dialogues, as they are the ones who know best the challenges on the ground and those who are most committed to fulfilling the human rights that depend on water.
In parallel, the Special Rapporteur is preparing a letter of key recommendations to the coordinating countries for each Interactive Dialogue and to the host countries. These recommendations are based largely on the proposals that were presented in Dakar, both by the Mandate and by the organizations and movements of the Social Platform.
Next steps for the Platform:
The Special Rapporteur invites contributions from the organizations of the Platform on the following issues:
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What does it mean to promote at the Conference a human rights-based approach, and/or a water governance system based on considering water as a common good in relation to each of the Interactive Dialogues (water and development, water and energy, etc.)?
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What is needed to promote broad and representative social participation in the various Interactive Dialogues? This issue may include the proposal of names and organizations that may participate in each of these Dialogues.
The Special Rapporteur will share his own contributions as soon as they are ready. In the meantime, encourage members of the Platform to share their ideas by responding to this email or sharing ideas and materials in this shared folder.
Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur encourages organizations and movements that have contacts with representatives of countries coordinating the Interactive Dialogues to promote these ideas with their own governments.
Save the date: upcoming Social Platform meetings:
The next meetings of the Social Platform will take place between 8 and 10 April. At these meetings, we would like to invite the organizations that attended the preparatory event in Dakar to take stock and share with other organizations their experience in Dakar. On the other hand, the Special Rapporteur will share new information about the UN Water meeting in Rome. Finally, we hope to have a discussion space to decide between all the next steps.
With best regards,
Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo
