On 18th and 19th October, GIWEH participated in the 11th Meeting of the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management in the Palais des Nations in Geneva. It was held under the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
Two major themes of the conferences were: the 20th Anniversary of the Convention and the opening of the Convention to accession by all United Nations Members States. Delegates from the member countries and non-member countries shared experiences and challenges of transboundary water management within the convention frameworks, including the testimonies of successful stories, the ratification processes in different countries, the initiation of dialogue with neighboring countries, and the reporting mechanism under the convention. A Q&A session was held to provide information regarding the basics of the convention to new delegates. Regarding its global opening to all UN Members states, the convention promised to increase its visibility, expand its partnership, and provide more technical support and knowledge sharing platforms.

GIWEH attended the conference as a nominated expert organization representing the non-governmental voice. Realizing the barrier between policy makers and transboundary water management experts raised by the convention, GIWEH is working on providing a checklist for policy makers to better understand the relationships between existing frameworks and platforms to facilitate better communications. The results will be presented at the side event “Using International law to implement and monitor SDG 6.5; 6.6 and 6b” during the Budapest Water Summit.

More information can be found here.