Sustainable development goal 6 (SDG 6), aimed primarily at ensuring safe drinking
water and sanitation for all, stands as the cornerstone of the broader sustainable
development goals (SDGs). Progress toward achieving SDG 6 in the Arab world, an
area classified as water-scarce, has faced multifaceted challenges arising from climate
change, population growth, transboundary dependency, and water governance
policies. Given that research dynamics are pivotal indicators of nations’ capacity to
innovate, they also show how countries address challenges. This review endeavors to
quantify the advancements made toward SDG 6 in the Arab region. The study seeks
to identify research interests, trends, scientific trajectories, and major contributors
and, consequently, to delineate gaps and provide insights into future perspectives.
This involved conducting a comprehensive search within the Scopus database,
specifically targeting publications originating from the Arab world. To facilitate this, a
pregenerated SDG 6 query utilizing Elsevier’s machine learning model designed for
classifying SDGs was employed. The analysis constituted an assessment of different
qualitative and quantitative indicators. Visualization resources, specifically VOSviewer
applications, were employed to delineate collaboration structures, underline cocitation
ties across major knowledge-sharing sources, and recognize primary
domains determined by keyword co-occurrence analysis. Thematic evolution and
intellectual analyses, conducted via SciMAT software, aimed to determine driving and
emerging themes, as well as the uniformity of concepts over the course of time. The
analysis identified 7922 documents, constituting 7.4% of the overall global output.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt emerged as the leading contributors, with 2494 and 2132
documents, respectively. India, China, and the United States stand out as the most
productive non-Arab collaborating countries, with 771, 751, and 707 documents,
respectively. King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, emerged as the leading institution,
producing 682 documents (8.6%). The study highlights strong regional focus on
water security, non-conventional resources, advanced treatment technologies, and
growing South–South collaborations, particularly with South and Southeast Asia.
The key themes likely to continue shaping future SDG 6-related research in the Arab
world involve exploring diverse treatment methods to remove nitrate and sulfate
ions from groundwater and addressing water contamination caused by substances
such as heavy metals, dyes, industrial waste from the textile industry, and organic pollutants. Key applications involve the utilization of nanocomposite materials,
adsorption kinetics, and advanced oxidation techniques, targeting pharmaceutical
drugs and antibiotics. Additional themes of interest are the development of effective
dye adsorbents, the utilization of photocatalysis for the degradation of organic
contaminants, and the exploration of the promise of bioreactors for wastewater
treatment. The priorities to further advance SDG 6 in the region are investments that
contribute to filling data gaps, leveraging innovative and intelligent technologies,
and developing resilient frameworks for water management. Other areas of equal
priority include strengthening community participation, enabling water conservation
practices, and integrating social sciences into water projects. Holistic strategies must
combine water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) with integrated water resources
management (IWRM) as the foundation of sustainable progress.

Title

Discover Sustainability

Publisher

Springer Nature

Publisher Country

Switzerland

Indexing

Thomson Reuters

Impact Factor

3.6

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

6

Year

2025

Pages

798