The Unfulfilled Hopes of the UN Data Revolution – Zooming in on SDG 6 in IndiaPetra Dobner und and Dirk Hanschel

ASIEN – Nr. 172/173 (2024) pp. 1–25

This paper shows how the Sustainable Development Goal 6 (water) has neither been sufficiently realized at the international level nor in India, in spite of hopes and promises. The desired connection of “better data, better lives” propelled by the belief in the so-called UN data revolution has not sufficiently materialized in practice. We argue that this is not surprising as that belief in itself does not sufficiently come to grips with complex realities of the policy cycle and corresponding governing mechanisms at the domestic level. Understanding them better requires zooming in on compliance and implementation efforts within countries. By looking at India as the largest democracy in the world, one of the most prominent supporters of the SDGs and a country suffering from severe water stress, we intend to show how lack of effective domestic reference to SDG 6 may illustrate shortcomings of the SDGs process on a global level.

Keywords: data revolution, sustainable development goals, indicators, water, implementation, India