International Symposium on Water Diplomacy: Outcomes released

The International Centre for Water Cooperation (ICWC) – a UNESCO Category II Centre hosted at SIWI organised the International Symposium on Water Diplomacy on 16 and 17 November 2016 in collaboration with the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change, Koblenz, Germany.

The Symposium brought together researchers, diplomats, decision-makers, thought leaders and practitioners to discuss international cooperation over shared water resources and water diplomacy as an approach to conflict transformation, peacebuilding and regional cooperation.

In recent years, diplomacy has evolved to be more inclusive, open and transparent, involving more diverse actors than the traditional diplomats, in order to better tackle complex global challenges such as water scarcity and climate change. Global interdependencies are growing. Decision-making in one part of the world can easily impact possibilities to advance cooperation in others. International water cooperation is also closely associated with a range of policy areas and interests from non-state actors, such as foreign policy, security analyses, development agendas, environmental policy, private sector investments, and international legal frameworks. As a result, the process of water diplomacy is receiving growing interest from the diplomatic community and security analysists.

Water diplomacy is a dynamic and evolving process, and can support important efforts to achieve peaceful, inclusive and sustainable water cooperation between communities, regions and countries. It can be tailored and responsive to the uniqueness of each process and goepolitical context.