Organized by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) for Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, this two day workshop for journalists from Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions of the world counted with the participation of more than 15 agencies of the United Nations System as well as with representatives from Governments and the civil society. The workshop dealt with different thematic issues addressed by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), which will take place in Brazil from 20 to 22 June 2012. Logistics were also considered. This exercise provided to media representatives information and basics to cover the summit, should they be on site or following the Summit from distance.

The UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) participated in the workshop with a presentation on the link between water and Rio+20. Josefina Maestu, UNW-DPAC coordinator, introduced the UN-Water messages for Rio, the work done in preparation for the Conference and the most important water-related issues in the negotiation of the Rio Declaration.

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20 April 2012 - Ministerial delegations from almost 40 developing countries assembled alongside major donors at a meeting hosted by UNICEF and the World Bank. The meeting, chaired by His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, former president of Ghana and Chair of SWA, and moderated by Jan Eliasson, Chair of WaterAid Sweden and incoming United Nations Deputy Secretary General Designate, resulted in commitments to take immediate steps to speed up global access to water and sanitation. Following engagement with Finance ministries, almost 40 developing countries made pledges that will provide an additional 60 million people with improved drinking water sources and another 80 million people with access to improved sanitation over the course of the next two years. At the same time, donors announced plans to massively increase the number of people they are reaching.

12 April 2012 - While access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) has considerably improved globally, services coverage could slip behind if adequate resources are not secured to sustain routine operations, warns the 2012 UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water – or “GLAAS” – released on 12 April by WHO and UN-Water. The report calls for additional and more targeted resources, especially for routine operation and maintenance of existing systems and services.