A central focus of UN-HABITAT's work is sanitation and access to adequate water, especially for suburban agriculture and for municipal drinking water.

Among the organization's key water initiatives are the following:

 The Urban Management Programme, which is active in 120 cities in 57 developing countries. This is a long-term technical co-operation programme to strengthen the contribution that cities and towns make towards human development, including economic growth, social development, reduction of poverty and improvement of environmental quality. Partners include the World Bank, UNDP and others
 
 Managing Water for Africa, which addresses different aspects of water for Africa's largest cities in collaboration with UNEP. It is directed towards promoting a demand-side perspective of water management and water pollution control methods, gender mainstreaming, and improvement of water access for urban poor and peri-urban areas
 
 A new regional programme, Water for Asian Cities, will promote pro-poor investments in water and sanitation to support the Millennium Development Goals. It was launched in May 2002.