The Integrated Monitoring Guide provides a basis for national governments to monitor progress towards the new Sustainable Development Goal on water and sanitation (SDG 6). It seeks to embrace and build on existing monitoring efforts at the country level, allowing countries to begin monitoring efforts at a level in line with their national capacity and available resources, and from there advance progressively. The Guide also promotes harmonization and the use of similar standards and definitions, to facilitate the sharing and comparison of data both within and among countries and over time, and it should not be seen as a prescriptive set of rules to be adhered to.
The Guide is a living document that will be revised as necessary throughout the SDG period, to capture methodological and technological developments that can improve monitoring effectiveness and efficiency.