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World Water Development Report

The United Nations World Water Development Report is published every year by the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) under the auspices of UNESCO. It provides a comprehensive overview of the condition, use and management of the Earth’s fresh water resources and provides decisionmakers with a foundation for formulating and implementing sustainable water policies.
31 UN organisations work together in the WWAP.  Between 2003 and 2012, the World Water Development Report was released every three years.  The topic of the 2018 World Water Development Report was "Nature-Based Solutions for Water” and it demonstrates how we can use nature to manage the challenges of water shortages.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are inspired and supported by nature and use, or mimic, natural processes to contribute to improving the management of water. They promote the conservation of natural ecosystems and enhance or clone natural processes in artificial ecosystems. They can be applied at micro or macro scales.

Sustainable water security
Nature-based solutions are also central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable water security will not be achieved through business-as-usual approaches. NBS works with nature instead of against it, thereby providing an essential means to expanding social, economic and hydrological efficiency gains in water resources management.

Previous reports

Data and facts Hydrological programme