The Integrated Monitoring Initiative for Sustainable Development Goal 6 (IMI-SDG6) is a partnership between eight UN agencies and is coordinated by UN-Water. It was established at the beginning of the 2030 Agenda period, to accelerate the achievement of SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
FAO is one of the initiative’s partners and the custodian agency responsible for monitoring SDG target 6.4 that aims at “substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity by 2030”.
IMI-SDG6 supports countries to collect, analyze and report SDG 6 data, and assists policy and decision-makers to use this data for better policy-decisions and investments.
To this ends, the initiative creates guides, organizes trainings, develops methodology for contextualized and disaggregated data and information.
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New FAO e-learning course on calculating the level of water stress at the river basin level
12/10/2026
Water stress affects countries differently. National averages can mask significant differences between river basins, seasons and economic sectors, limiting the usefulness of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 6.4.2 for water resources management and policy decisions.
To address...
Who benefits? Viewing water resources through a gender lens
11/09/2026
A new FAO publication, Gender review and contextualization of Sustainable Development Goal Target 6.4: Water use and scarcity, examines water use and scarcity through a gender lens. It presents a practical approach for complementing the monitoring of SDG Target 6.4 with gender-relevant information, helping countries better understand who benefits from water resources, policies and investments, and who may be left behind.
FAO supports Sierra Leone in strengthening SDG 6 water monitoring and reporting
04/07/2026
Under the Integrated Monitoring Initiative for Sustainable Development Goal 6 (IMI-SDG6), a national workshop on SDG 6 monitoring was held in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 2–3 July 2026. The hybrid workshop brought together representatives from national institutions involved in water data collect...
Guidelines
Gender review and contextualization of Sustainable Development Goal Target 6.4: water use and scarcity. Promoting gender-sensitive and inclusive analysis of water and sanitation data
09/2026
[Available in English.] This publication examines water use and scarcity through a gender lens. It provides a practical framework to complement SDG...
Gender and SDG 6: How We Measure Progress. Developing gender-relevant indicators for water and sanitation
06/2026
The guidance provides a step-by-step methodology to help countries assess gender integration in the water sector, engage relevant stakeholders, select...
Seasonal water stress plugin for Water Evaluation and Planning system (WEAP): User manual for calculating the disaggregated Sustainable Development Goal Indicator 6.4.2
05/2026
[Available in English. Soon in French and Spanish] This technical user manual presents the Seasonal Water Stress plugin developed for the Water Evaluation...
4/11
2026
18/11
2026
Monitoring water use and scarcity in Pakistan: strengthening capacity and coordination for monitoring SDG indicators 6.4.1 and 6.4.2
Pakistan (Pakistan), 04/11/2026 - 18/11/2026
This training activity, taking place online between 4 and 18 November 2026, aims at strengthening the capacity of national institutions in Pakistan to collect, validate, analyse, use and report water data required for monitoring SDG Target 6.4 on water use and water scarcity: Indicator 6.4.1 (change in water-use efficiency over time) and Indicator 6.4.2 (level of water stress).
Th...
