Something super important just happened and chances are you probably didn’t hear about it.

On Thursday, April 21, a High Level Panel on Water was officially announced. But why is the panel so important? Let’s dive into this to understand more.

The High Level Panel on Water (HLPW) consists of 10 Heads of State and Government and two Special Advisors. It was officially launched by the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon and President of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Yong Kim. The Panel had been soft-launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 21, 2016.

This Panel is so important because water and sanitation was the most off-track of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were the international guide to development from 2000-2015. Now the world has the Global Goals to guide the next 15 years of development. And Global Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation is specifically designed to make up for the lack of progress by the MDGs.

The Global Goals, particularly in relation to water and sanitation, can be a success if they are made an international priority. For water and sanitation, this is exactly what this Panel aims to do.

The joint UN and World Bank High-level Panel will be co-chaired by the presidents of Mauritius and Mexico. It aims to mobilise effective action to accelerate the implementation of Global Goal 6 and its related targets - which focus on ensuring sustainable management and availability of water and sanitation for all. According to Dr. David Korenfeld Federman of the Mexican Sherpa team, "even with the great effort made across countries, the fact is that we still have outstanding challenges in integrated management, universal coverage of services, and adaptation to new conditions from climate change."

This is why the Panel features representatives from countries all over the world because clean water and sanitation is everyone’s business.

The Panel has an initial term of 2 years, and is in the process of developing a timeline of key dates and expected milestones/outputs to maximise its reach.

The HLPW will serve two main functions:

1) Motivate Effective Action

By changing the way that the world thinks about water, and by shining a light on examples of policies, institutions, and programs that could help the world onto a more sustainable path. Through its high level membership and supporters,  the HLPW can help motivate effective action across governments, civil society, and the private sector.

2) Advocate on Financing and Implementation

By promoting efforts to mobilize and target financial resources, scale-up investment, and encourage innovation and partnerships, the HLPW can help the world improve water and sanitation related services, as well as build more sustainable and resilient societies and economies.

The Panel will feature four main themes:

1) Water is everyone’s responsibility

Water connects public health, food security, livable cities, energy for all, environmental well being, and climate action. Water and sanitation are necessary for human dignity and economic growth. A “whole-of-government” approach is required to better manage water as well as deliver water and sanitation services.

2) Sustainable services for all

Access to water and sanitation services is critical for poverty eradication, human dignity, livable cities, as well as economic growth and pollution prevention. At least 1.8 billion people use a source of drinking water that is contaminated with feces, while around 2.4 billion people still lack access to improved sanitation facilities, such as toilets or latrines. Even for those who have access to water and sanitation, services are often inadequate or unsustainable. The impact of poor water and sanitation falls disproportionately on girls and women as well as the the poorest and most marginalized. As the UN General Assembly has agreed, access to water is everyone’s right and therefore bridging access gaps is everyone’s responsibility. It is a matter of city planning, education, and public health, as well the responsibility of the specific services providers.

3) Valuing our water right

Valuing our water right means reducing pollution and increasing the efficiency of water use. It means building resilience to climate change and water extremes. It means valuing the human right to water so that the fundamental welfare of people, particularly the poor and women, is improved.

4) Investing in water for the long run

To provide growing populations with sufficient access to quality water, sanitation, and irrigation services, flood protection, energy, and water storage, large investments in well designed multi-purpose and resilient infrastructure is critical – both within and across countries. Adequate means of implementation – financial resources, technology development and transfer, international cooperation and capacity-building – will therefore be critical.

The team at Global Citizen is proud to be an official “friend of the panel” and is looking forward to working with the panel over the coming years to ensure that water and sanitation is a global priority.