The Global Environment Monitoring System for freshwater (GEMS/Water) provides the world community with sound data on fresh water quality to support scientific assessments and decision-making on the subject.

The Global Environment Monitoring System for Freshwater (GEMS/Water) was established in 1978 to collect world-wide water quality data for assessments of status and trends in global inland water quality. The twin goals of the GEMS/Water Programme are to improve water quality monitoring as well as assessment capacity in participating countries. GEMS/Water encourages a standardized approach to data generation through providing guidance and training on all aspects of monitoring and assessment and quality assurance by providing appropriate support, based on capacity needs at national and regional levels, and develops training for delivery globally. Data from participating countries is made available within the GEMS/Water online database GEMStat. Data for GEMStat is received from GEMS/Water's global network of National Focal Points. These are government institutions and agencies with the official mandate to monitor freshwater quality data in their countries. GEMS/Water supports the Sustainable Development Goal for Water (SDG 6) with methodology support, data management, quality assurance, indicator calculation and capacity development. 

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