The Think Tank

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The Think Tank Function is enriched and strengthened by the interlinkages among organizations engaged in cross-cutting agendas, the development agenda and the peace and security agenda. The Geneva Water Hub uses the theme of water as a catalyst to bridge such agendas around the theme of water. In its Think Tank Function, the Geneva Water Hub convenes various expertise in order to exchange ideas and to propose policy recommendations towards using water as a driver for peace and cooperation. The Think Tank taps into both the expertise of international organizations and other key global actors based in Geneva, as wells as on the extensive network at the global level.

The Think Tank supported the work mandated to the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace, co-convened by 15 countries from different regions of the world with the objective of producing recommendations for a global architecture for water, security and peace. A series of eight high-level expert round tables organised by the Geneva Water Hub provided substantive inputs for the drafting of the Panel’s report, “A Matter of Survival” (2017).

  1. 24 September 2015 - Round Table - “Cooperation and Benefit Sharing in the Senegal and Niger River Basins".
  2. 14 June 2016 - Round Table - “Protection of Water During and After Armed Conflicts".
  3. 26 October 2016 - Round Table - “Promoting the Effectiveness of International Water Law in Support of Security and Peace".
  4. 1 November 2016 - Round Table - “Intersectoriality and Conflicts”.
  5. 3 February 2017 - Round Table - “Refugees and Access to Water: Challenges and Responses".
  6. 27 February 2017 - Round Table - “Financing Incentives for Water Cooperation”.
  7. 28 February 2017 - Round Table - “Hydrodiplomacy for Peace and Security”.
  8. 20 March 2017 - Round Table - “Data for Water, Peace and Security”.

Following the launching of the report in 2017, the Think Tank continued its policy directed work in supporting the implementation of the recommendations of the Panel. To date, the following high-level experts’ round tables have introduced tools and approaches in the field of hydrodiplomacy.

  1. 13-14 December 2018 - Round Table - “Geneva List of Principles on the Protection of Water Infrastructure”.
  2. 6 February 2019 - Round Table - "Transboundary collaboration on the Senegalese-Mauritanian Aquifer".
  3. 16 May 2019 - Round Table - "The Role of Large Dams in Transboundary Water Negotiations".
  4. 20-21 November 2018 - Round Table - “Water, a vehicle for peace in the Sahel". (only available in French).
  5. 3 December 2019 - Round Table - “Water disputes: how to prevent and solve them?.
  6. 24 February 2021 - Round Table - "4th Virtual Roundtable on Digitalisation for Transboundary River Basin Development Organisations: Knowledge exchange with the SADC Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI)".
  7. 2-4 June 2021, Ouagadougou - Round Table "Local actors on water as a vector for peace in the Sahel"