The United Nations World Water Development Report, released every three years in conjunction with the World Water Forum, is the UN’s flagship report on water. It is a comprehensive review that gives an overall picture of the state of the world's freshwater resources and aims to provide decision-makers with the tools to implement sustainable use of our water.

Through a series of assessments, the Reports provide a mechanism for monitoring changes in the resource and its management and tracking progress towards achieving targets, particularly those of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The Reports also offer best practices as well as in-depth theoretical analyses to help stimulate ideas and actions for better stewardship in the water sector.

The development of the WWDR, coordinated by WWAP, is a joint effort of the 26 UN agencies and entities which make up UN-Water, working in partnership with governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders.

The third edition of the Report (WWDR3) was presented at the Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey on March 16, 2009. The WWDR3, “Water in a Changing World”, and its accompanying case studies volume, "Facing the Challenges", build on the work of previous studies, including the two previous WWDRs, “Water for People, Water for Life” (WWDR1), presented at the 3^rd World Water Forum in Japan in 2003, and “Water: A Shared Responsibility” (WWDR2), presented in 2006 at the 4^th World Water Forum in Mexico.

Production of the fourth edition of the UN World Water Development Report (WWDR4) is currently underway. To learn more about the next Report, which will be launched in 2012, please visit our pages on the WWDR4.

A solid foundation for the Report

The basis for the WWDR springs from the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 and the UN Millennium Declaration of 2000. In that document, the international community pledged to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people who are unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water; and to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources, by developing water management strategies at the regional, national and local levels, which promote both equitable access and adequate supplies. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) outlined in the Millennium Declaration, set an ambitious agenda for improving the human condition by 2015, and achievement of a large number of those goals is dependent upon the access to safe and sufficient water; in effect, the progress of a country towards the MDGs can partly be measured by assessing that country's water situation.
More about the MDGs and their relation to water.

As such, the WWDR is part of an ongoing worldwide assessment project to measure progress towards achieving the goals of sustainable development set out by the United Nations. It belongs to a lineage of commitments and efforts made in the international community to resolve the world's water problems, an effort that dates back several decades.

The WWDR seeks to answer the questions being asked by the international community: how far have we come towards meeting the targets of sustainable development? How far have we yet to do? What actions can we take to make the path smoother, and faster? In today's changing world, the Report takes stock of past actions, present challenges, and future opportunities in order to provide decision-makers with up-to-date, reliable information that can help to change the ways in which we use water.
More about the most important water-related events since 1972.

The targeted audience

The WWDR is targeted to all those involved in the formulation and implementation of water-related policies and investment strategies, as well as to professionals at all levels. Although it offers a broad global picture, it focuses particularly on the situation in developing countries, where the need for better infrastructure and water governance is highest. With the report, WWAP is aiming to show where systems are failing, and to provide the information needed for efficient and effective capacity-building throughout the world.