IHP Bureau moves forward after 40^th Bureau session

From 13-15 June 2007, the 40^th session of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) Bureau was held at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft, The Netherlands, coinciding with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Institute. The Bureau discussed, consolidated and endorsed a strategy for UNESCO’s water-related institutes and centres that will go to the IHP Intergovernmental Council for an out-of-session approval. In this context, the Bureau recommended that future proposals for the establishment of water-related centres be defined according to both the newly-endorsed strategy for water-related centres under the auspices of UNESCO as well as the current UNESCO-wide principles and guidelines for such centres and institutes.

The IHP Bureau also decided to endorse the strategic plan for the 7^th Phase of IHP (IHP-VII, 2008-2013) and submit it to the IHP Intergovernmental Council. In addition, the Bureau discussed at length the report by the Director-General on the Conclusions and Recommendations of the Expert Team on the Overall Review of Major Programmes II and III. The Bureau decided to forward its comments to Mr. Matsuura, UNESCO’s Director-General, in order for him to transmit these to the 177^th session of the Executive Board.

The IHP Bureau was also informed of ongoing activities, including preparations for IHP’s potential future involvement in the 5th World Water Forum (March 2009, Istanbul), involvement of IHP in the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), and its role as lead partner of Thematic Programme 8 on Education for Sustainable Water Management of the DESD Action Plan.

Read the full Final Report [PDF format - 168 KB]
Access the official documents of the 40^th IHP Bureau

PCCP releases case study on Lake Titicaca

IHP-PCCP’s most recent case study, Co-operation on Lake Titicaca, is now available on the web page of the programme. The case study emphasizes the dialogue between Peru and Bolivia over Lake Titicaca, a shared lake between the two.

The governments of these countries organized a bi-national technical team that jointly gathered data, supervised the process and wrote the case study. The exercise that led to this publication involved water professionals, policy makers and representatives of civil society from both sides. It provided opportunities for dialogue and access to information on related issues. It also improved all stakeholders’ knowledge of the reality and needs of the human and natural components of this ecosystem.

The Lake Titicaca case study is an example of how PCCP builds on the existing political will for cooperation between countries, increases trust and confidence among stakeholders at all levels and helps nurture peace and human security.

Read the Lake Titicaca Case Study

UNESCO-IHP, UNESCO-IHE and International Water History Association launch course on World History of Water Management

A 5-day short course on the “World History of Water Management” will be offered for the first time in September 2007, drawing both on historical experiences from different parts of the world and on experts from the International Water History Association (IWHA). Many of these are involved in the UNESCO “History of Water and Civilization” project, and in the framework of cooperation among IWHA, UNESCO-IHP, and UNESCO-IHE.

The course aims to (1) provide a comprehensive overview of archaeological and historical developments in water management including water harvesting, water supply, transportation, delivery, treatment, hydraulic engineering and allocation (with contributions including the physical sciences, technology, ecology, engineering, organisation, politics, law governance) in different parts of the world and within various cultural contexts; (2) develop an appreciation of the role of cultural dynamics involved in managing water resources, especially at times of perceived water scarcity, and (3) comprehend the historical antecedents of our current paradigm of water management and what can be learned from historical case studies on the basis of the knowledge and experience of several scholars from different countries and from the exchange of experiences to be generated between course participants and experts.

More information on the IWHA course [PDF format]

UNESCO-IHE announces online course offerings

UNESCO-IHE offers high-quality online courses in an increasing number of topics of interest in the water sector. The innovative delivery format makes learning exciting, flexible, interactive and effective. It allows participants anywhere in the world to learn at their own convenience, and immediately apply their newly acquired knowledge in their working environment.

The online courses are intended for professionals working in public and private institutions, NGOs, and academic institutions, and are ideal for those with families who want to upgrade their skills from the comfort of their own home or office.

For more information or to register for UNESCO-IHE’s online courses.

TO BE LAUNCHED! El Agua y los Pueblos Indígenas ("Water and Indigenous Peoples")

El Agua y los Pueblos Indígenas brings to the fore some of the most incisive indigenous critics of international debates on water access, use and management, as well as indigenous expressions of generosity that share community knowledge and insight in order to propose remedies for the global water crisis. This publication is the updated Spanish version of Water and Indigenous Peoples (UNESCO, 2006), for which many articles have been revised to reflect outcomes from the Fourth World Water Forum (Mexico 2006) and other recent relevant legal and policy developments.

El Agua y los Pueblos Indígenas will be launched on 14 August at the ‘Sixth Inter-American Dialogue on Water Management’ (Hotel Westin Camino Real, Ciudad de Guatemala, 13-17 August, 2007). The book launch will be hosted by Mrs. Katherine Grigsby, UNESCO Representative in Guatemala, as part of the session ‘La gente alrededor del agua: comunicación, concientización y cultura del agua’ (About people and water: communication, awareness and water culture).

Water and Indigenous Peoples (in English) can be downloaded from the website of the Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) Programme of UNESCO.

The Spanish version will be available on the website following the launch

Access a complete list of water events around the world

Congo River. Thierry Michel (Photographs), Lye Mudaba Yoka and Isidore Ndaywel È Nziem (Text). Tournesol Conseils SA – Renaissance du Livre/Les Films de la Passarelle (French Only).

A photographic voyage to the heart of Africa, Congo River is an ode to life, equal to the indomitable vegetation that surrounds the Congo River. Beyond its natural beauty, the river tells the history of a country, which is intimately linked: its enigmatic origin, its sinuous path against winds and ocean tides, its abrupt stops, its unavailing spirit. At the same time, it makes us discover the memory of mythological personalities which molded the destiny of the country: from Lianja to Stanley and Livingstone as well as Leopold II, Lumumba and Mobutu.

But the river is not only a reflection of the history of the country. It is also a symbol of life and of survival for the Congolese of today. Beyond the wars, of death and misery, it leads us to meet a people who move forward resolutely to the future.

Transboundary waters are often associated with the term “Water Wars”.  Why is this the case and are these “Wars” possible?
Conflicts over shared resources are inherent to human nature. It is true for any resource and it becomes even more true when the resource is vital for human life and development, and especially when specific factors make competition for that resource more fierce.  

However, all negative interactions or conflicts between sovereign states, including those directly or indirectly related to water, cannot be qualified as a “war”: there are different levels of conflicts ranging from political hostilities to open armed conflicts, and one needs to know where a given conflict is placed on this scale before qualifying it as a “war”.

In addition, all conflicts between sovereign States, involving water, do not aim at control of the resource. Water is indeed often used as a victim in a conflict or a tool for the achievement of a variety of objectives; and even when water is indeed an objective per se, it is usually never the unique objective of the hostilities. Wars are simply never fought for a single reason but for a wide range of causes, of which water can be one, sometimes even the one that triggers the conflict.

What is usually meant by “water war” is the actual or possible occurrence of “an armed conflict between sovereign States, whose sole objective is the control of water resources”. The points made above clearly show that this is quite unlikely to happen or at least that it has not happened until now. Countries usually tend to cooperate over the use of shared water resources. They actually cannot afford to fight over them. They are in a way “stuck” in the basin where they are. They cannot choose to leave the basin or change their place or their neighbors in the basin. They need to maintain a good relation with their neighbors, at least when it comes to the use of such a vital resource.

So, then, why do you think there is so much media attention surrounding these words?
Today, there are 263 transboundary basins in the world. They cover around 45% of the globe’s surface and they represent a necessary resource for the life and development of 40% of the world’s population; the competition is clear. During the 20^th century, the world’s population increased three-fold while water withdrawal increased six-fold; the needs are increasing. In addition to that, climate variability is worsening an already complicated situation; uncertainties are multiplying. We have here all the ingredients to make a negative forecast for the future of sharing water resources. We should therefore indeed be extremely vigilant but without being completely alarmist: creating overwhelming fear and producing effects of panic that spread among water users is not really conducive to constructive and creative management of shared water resources, whether at the inter-state level or between two neighboring farmers using the same well.

What attracts you to working with these types of issues?
I was born in a country at war where the differences in perceptions, views and interests threatened – for more than 30 years – all hopes for sustainable peace and development, not to mention environmental security, which was the lowest priority of the key actors in the conflict. On the other hand, I was fortunately raised in a “micro-environment” that allowed me to watch a conflict and understand how difficult it is for belligerent parties to put themselves in each other’s shoes and accept each other’s fears and wishes. I became interested in all the ways and means one can use to alleviate instability and facilitate dialogues.

The professional environment in which PCCP was developed was also an engaging one. Working with people like Dr. János Bogardi, Dr. William J. Cosgrove, Prof. Evan Vlachos, and Prof. Aaron Wolf among others, was and still is a rewarding experience that further influenced my thinking and interest in the topic.

In your experience, what has been the best way to deflate potential conflicts among water users?
Dealing successfully with water conflicts requires a combination of trust and skills: competitive behavior and the lack of trust among parties in a conflict can seriously hamper cooperative management of shared water resources. Once trust is built on a solid basis, it becomes much easier for the parties to find joint solutions and, above all, to implement and eventually modify them jointly. On the other hand, once trust is broken, it is very difficult to turn the situation around.

It is also very important to make sure that the parties to a conflict themselves have the skills to deal with their own conflict in their own way and to build and/or maintain their good relationship with their own counterparts.

PCCP facilitates multi-level and interdisciplinary dialogues in order to foster peace, co-operation and development related to the management of shared water resources.

In order to nurture equitable and sustainable management of shared water resources, PCCP uses:

. Education and training: It develops region-specific educational materials and organizes multidisciplinary training courses;
. Research: It focuses on the causes of water conflicts, and the best practices as well as the innovative techniques to manage them; and
. Process support: It provides parties facing difficulties managing their shared water resources with international fora in which they can establish dialogue and exchange knowledge and experience related to water management and security.

The Programme’s target audience includes: water and non-water professionals, decision makers and diplomats, civil society and local-level actors, educators at different levels, as well as post-graduate students.

The Dundee Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science works to improve transboundary water management through its research, conferences, advisory services, and publications. The Centre’s staff works on the design and implementation of national and international water law programmes and regulatory frameworks, especially for IWRM strategies. A key objective of the Centre’s international activities has been to enhance local human and institutional capacity through creating regional centres of excellence in the field of water law and policy. At conferences that address regional water cooperation, Centre experts provide guidance on matters of water rights, frameworks for allocation, the roles and responsibilities of transboundary water institutions, and water law aspects related to stakeholder forums, dissemination, and capacity development. Finally, the Centre reports on compliance with transboundary watercourse agreements and publishes volumes that focus on the resolution of interstate water conflict through building regimes.

• While historically, experts have concentrated on transboundary surface water, more recently, nations have started to include transboundary groundwater on their agendas as more and more people are depending on groundwater to meet their daily needs.
• There are more than 263 internationally shared basins worldwide.
• Over 45% of the land surface of the world is covered by basins that are shared by more than one nation. Over 75% of all nations, 145 of them have within their boundaries shared basins. And 33 nations have over 95% of their territory within international basins.
• While most basins are shared between just two countries, there are many basins where this number is much higher. There are 13 basins worldwide that are shared between 5 and 8 riparian nations. Five basins, the Congo, Niger, Nile, Rhine and Zambezi, are shared between 9 and 11 countries. The river that flows through the most nations is the Danube, which travels within the territory of 18 nations!
• Over 40% of the world’s population resides within internationally shared river basins.
• Basins shared by two or more nations account for approximately 60% of the world’s river flow.

The section “Did You Know…?” is taken primarily from the Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database (TFDD) at Oregon State University.

- International Hydrological Programme
- World Water Assessment Programme
- UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
- Water-related Institutes and Centres under the Auspices of UNESCO
- UNESCO Water-related Chairs

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For contributions or comments, contact the editor at waterportal@unesco.org