Bangkok, 10 December 2025 – A new report launched today at the IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition in Bangkok highlights that the world depends on at least 285,000 water and sanitation utilities to deliver essential services. The scale and diversity of these key local actors underscore their critical role in achieving universal access to water and sanitation to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 6 commitment.
The Global Outlook on Water and Sanitation Service Providers: Water for Sustainable Cities, published by GWOPA/UN-Habitat in collaboration with IRC and Water for People, offers a first consolidated global outlook on water and sanitation utilities and proposes Seven Pathways for Change to accelerate progress in supporting their work to get the world on track in meeting the human rights to safe water and adequate sanitation. The pathways – covering leadership, governance, finance, workforce, innovation, climate action and partnerships – are presented as a practical, achievable agenda for governments, regulators, utility leaders and development partners.
The report highlights strong gains in water and sanitation access over the past decades while alerting that none of the Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets are currently on track. Rapid urbanization, climate risks, insufficient finance and persistent capacity gaps continue to strain utilities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where service reliability remains uneven, with only an estimated 30–40 per cent of people receiving continuous water supply.
Speaking at the launch, Julie Perkins, EU-WOP Programme Lead at GWOPA/UN-Habitat, stressed the centrality of utilities in delivering sustainable development: “This report confirms that utilities are far more numerous, diverse and essential than previously recognised. With at least 285,000 utilities worldwide, strengthening them remains one of the most powerful levers for achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 and building resilient, inclusive cities. The seven pathways provide direction to help utilities and governments shift from incremental improvements to systemic transformation.”
The report proposes Water Operators’ Partnerships (WOPs) – long-term, solidarity-based collaborations between utilities – as a cost-effective mechanism to support reform to scale up further. Through peer learning and capacity development, WOPs can help utilities improve their operational efficiency, strengthen bankability, address climate risks and expand services into underserved areas.
Patrick Moriarty, Chief Executive Officer of IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, welcomed the report’s emphasis on whole-system strengthening: “This evidence reinforces what the WASH community has long known: utilities are the backbone of service delivery systems. Without coherent policy, realistic financing and coordinated support, they simply cannot fulfil their mandate. The seven pathways resonate strongly with IRC’s vision for resilient WASH systems and offer governments and partners a decisive, actionable blueprint to drive lasting change.”
The Global Outlook also underlines the importance of integrating water and sanitation service provision into urban development and housing policies, in line with UN-Habitat’s Strategic Plan 2026–2029. It calls for greater coordination between utilities, municipalities and regulators, noting that utilities are frontline actors of urban resilience whose performance shapes social well-being, economic opportunity and environmental sustainability.
As the report is disseminated globally, GWOPA and partners emphasised that the evidence is designed to inform decision-makers ahead of major global milestones, including the World Urban Forum, UN Water Conference 2026 and implementation of the UN System-wide Strategy on Water and Sanitation.
The Global Outlook is available on GWOPA/UN-Habitat website.