Water diplomacy

Water diplomacy is key in addressing and resolving transboundary water challenges worldwide. The Netherlands is profiling itself as a key player in this field. IHE Delft, with its broad and rich in-house expertise of water diplomacy and related subjects, and its partners and networks, are contributing to this area through education, research, and the activities under this Water and Development Partnership Programme (phase 2). The water diplomacy activities under DUPC2 are focussed on knowledge exchange, capacity development and institutional strengthening, but also include education and research activities. Due to the nature of the topic, many of the capacity development activities focus not only on knowledge transfers, but also on building of skills, trust and networks that depend on face-to-face interaction.

Read more about the joint master programme on Water Cooperation and Diplomacy here.

The growing water crisis poses a threat to livelihoods, ecosystems and security. In response to these threats, the Water, Peace and Security (WPS) partnership was founded in 2018 to develop innovative tools and services that help local stakeholders identify, understand and address water-related security risks. We use cutting-edge technology to increase awareness and understanding. This knowledge is used in participatory analysis, capacity building and awareness raising activities to support timely, informed and inclusive action in regions prone to water-related conflict, such as currently Mali, Iraq, Ethiopia and Kenya. We believe this action, based on regional needs, is required to prevent escalation of water-related tensions into conflict. In fact, it can even enhance collaboration among stakeholders, turning water related threats into water related opportunities for peacebuilding.

“By supporting local stakeholders, WPS aims to prevent and reduce water-related conflict and turn the vicious cycle of water challenges and instability into a virtuous one of sustainable water management and peace.”

WPS is a collaboration between the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and a consortium of six partners: Deltares, The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), IHE Delft (lead partner), International Alert, Wetlands International and World Resources Institute (WRI). Read more about Our Partners.

This project ran under DUPC2 from 2018 until 2022. For more information, visit the project website.

The main goal of this research project is to support improved management of the Tekeze-Atbara water resources system, through informed decision making according to evaluation of costs and benefits of different scenarios for coordinated versus non-coordinated operation of the reservoirs system. The research mainly aims to identify and recommend designs of institutional set-ups for regional cooperation for the operation of the T-A reservoir system, given the information on different operation scenarios. The ultimate goal is to maximize the benefit from water resources of the T-A sub-basin, both at national level (Ethiopia, and Sudan), as well as at sub-basin level. The project has attempted an active communication strategy with local stakeholders, for example with the policymakers from the ministries of water in Ethiopia and Sudan. This has improved the local ownership of the project and is expected to enhance the chances of buy-in of project outputs. 

Learn more by visiting the project website

Five countries of the Aral Sea basin – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan – have for the past 30 years collaborated under the institutional framework of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS). While this framework has proven to be crucial for dialogue at high political level, operational management at technical level, and coordination of international projects, the key challenge is still to find a stable and reliable mechanism for allocation of water, for both the quantity of water and the seasonal operation of the reservoirs, that is accepted by all riparian states.

The DUPC2‐funded advanced training in water governance and strategic planning under conditions of climate change supports the ongoing efforts in the region to jointly tackle climate change impacts and develop sustainable water management mechanisms. It will provide tools for translating this general vision into concrete plans and tasks. To this end, the course will enable participants to better understand the complexities of policy‐making and increase their capacities in strategic planning. 

Untreated wastewater of 300,000 people is discharged from a number of local communities into the Kidron/Al‐Nar stream, which flows from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea and along the way forms an environmental and health hazard. The political setting of the river basin is complicated, since it is located in west and east Jerusalem and Areas A, B and C (delineated in Oslo agreements). This 'open sewer' has caused Palestinian farmers to leave their lands and has increased disease incidence and nuisance from odour/flies in the town of Ubadiya. Pollution of groundwater (West‐Bank aquifer) is likely as well. The main objective of the 2016-2022 KIDRONNAR project is to investigate and demonstrate the feasibility of a decentralized approach to treatment and reuse of wastewater in the KidronNar basin.

The project aims to bring the water scientists (multiple disciplines) and media on one platform to facilitate water diplomacy in the Brahmaputra Basin. It engages with key media personnel at local, national and regional levels to discuss various aspects of the basin. The media-science dialogues play a crucial role in building capacity and disseminating accurate information among the stakeholders for well informed and responsible reporting. It reflects on the broader question toward shared water issue of “are media and science part of the problem or part of the solution?”.

The Open Water Diplomacy Lab project focusses on media, science and transboundary cooperation in the Nile. The project aims at studying the role of the media and science in transboundary waters negotiations, as well as at developing journalists’ and researchers’ capacities on water science communication. Despite COVID the project managed to continue with a number of podcast series on water conflict and cooperation hosted by Fiona Broom (SciDev.net). Also, the EverydayNile initiative continued, in which photojournalists from different Nile countries attended a series of workshops to think about the stories they want to tell to re-picture the river. The aim is to reflect on how to communicate and build bridges over the Nile’s troubled waters.