In the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Governments were committed to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration. As a means to further support efforts to eradicate poverty, they agreed to halve by the year 2015 the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation, as well as the proportion of people who are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water. The Population and Development Branch, TSD, prepared this report as a contribution to the dialogue that recently took place at the Third World Water Forum held in Kyoto, Japan, and covers the population, gender and health dimensions related to the ongoing debate on water resources.