Water-related sustainable development goal accelerators: A rapid review

The United Nations has adopted accelerators – policies or programs that target multiple SDGs – to expedite delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This rapid review examines the potential application of accelerators in water interventions from 2015 to 2020, with special consideration of how gender is integrated to fast-track SDG implementation as a cross-cutting case. While 86% of water projects acknowledged SDG interlinkages, project indicators did not reflect SDG acceleration objectives. For example, despite widespread acknowledgement of gender as a critical SDG issue, only a fifth of projects applied gender-related accelerators, and the bulk lacked strategic gender dimensions that addressed systemic roots of inequality. This suggests a strategic opportunity for the water sector to accelerate SDG progress through greater integration of cross-cutting programming.