Resources

The Geneva Water Hub’s online platform offers a wide range of resources. You will find a range of different formats each created especially for a particular target audience – student, scientist or professional.

Interactive Platform - A drama of GERD negotiations, explore the debates at the UN Security Council around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

We are proud to kick off a new interactive platform exploring the debates at the United Nations Security Council around the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Navigate the website content through different lenses like “controversy mapping”, “conversations”, Quotes explorer” and “data visualizations”.

Report - Round table of local actors on water as a vector for peace in the Sahel

The Liptako-Gourma region, shared by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, is an epicentre of the security crisis affecting the Sahel. Local populations are particularly affected by the armed violence of the belligerents and by the sharp increase in humanitarian needs. Access to water, as a vital resource for basic needs, and as a key to accessing natural resources that can be exploited by the populations, is a major challenge for diplomacy in favour of peace and social cohesion between communities. Such an approach requires the inclusion of local actors in the definition of the problems and responses to the crisis, through sustainable solutions for which they are in a position to play a major role.

Distance Learning Course on International Water Law and the Law of Transboundary Aquifers

Are you involved in the implementation of a transboundary water agreement? Register now for the 2021 Edition of the Online Course on International Water Law and the Law of Transboundary Aquifers.

Webinar on "International Water Law and Transboundary Cooperation"

The webinar examines the role of international water law in enhancing transboundary cooperation. It will also emphasize how the Implementation Committee of the UNECE Water Convention serves as a mechanism to support cooperation between riparian States.

Second edition of the online course on international water law

The Geneva Water Hub invites you to participate in the 2^nd edition of its online course on the international water law which will take place between 30 March 30 and 10 May 2020.

Universities’ partnership: the role of academic institutions in water cooperation and diplomacy

Academic and research institutions play a key role in understanding water cooperation and tackling water diplomacy needs. The Geneva Watrer Hub is proud to be leading with its core partners the launch and expansion of the University Partnership for Water Cooperation and Diplomacy (UPWCD). The following article discusses the role that academic and scientific institutions play in water diplomacy and cooperation, and reflects on the contribution that partners of the UPWCD can jointly make to further the cause of water cooperation and diplomacy.

Distance Learning Course "International Water Law and the Law of Transboundary Aquifers" between 21 October and 22 December 2019

Developed by the Geneva Water Hub and the Platform for International Water Law of the University of Geneva, the online course in "International Water Law and the Law of Transboundary Aquifers" has been designed for professionals from different backgrounds including law, international relations, hydrology, engineering or economics. Government officials (diplomats, technical and scientific specialists working in transboundary water issues), international organizations staff, NGO, civil society representatives, academics and professionals from the private sector.

Distance Learning Course "Droit international de l’eau douce" between 27 May and 7 July 2019

Developed by the Geneva Water Hub and the Platform for International Water Law of the University of Geneva, the online course in "Droit international de l’eau douce" has been designed for professionals working full-time and run for six weeks. Participants have free access at all times to course content, assessment activities and learning materials.

Research Handbook on Freshwater Law and International Relations

A research collaboration between the Geneva Water Hub and the Platform for International Water Law (Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva) highlights the intersections between freshwater law and international relations.

The UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses - A Commentary

A research collaboration between the Geneva Water Hub and the Platform for International Water Law (Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva) examines the preparatory work leading to the Convention as well as the practice that has developed since its adoption in 1997.

"A Matter of Survival"

The Geneva Water Hub, as Secretariat of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace, is proud to present “A Matter of Survival”, the final recommendation Report of the Panel. The Report was officially launched and presented to the public in Geneva on 14 September 2017. The recommendations were also presented in New York City on 18 September 2017, during a Working Ministerial Dinner entitled "Water cooperation as a tool for conflict prevention". Speakers included H.E.

Water Talks Series n°4 - Dr. F. Farinosi

Policy Brief n°4 - Transboundary Governance of the Senegal and Niger Rivers: Historic Analysis and Determining Factors Identification

The Senegal River Basin Development Organization (OMVS) and the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) are recognized as examples of international watercourse governance best practices. Thanks to a set of skills that goes beyond the restrictive framework of flows management, they constitute genuine agencies for economical and social development. Despite their proximity, these organisations differ as their respective path to success undergone highly contingent features. Therefore we propose to compare the evolution of governance with respect to the Senegal and Niger watercourses in order to highlight common factors that led to coordination success as well as specificities of each case. We thereby ensure the tranposability of each model.

Monthly Water Map n°3 - Governance at the Basin Level: Senegal and Niger Rivers

The Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS) and the Autorité du bassin du Niger (ABN) are recognised for their good practices in transboundary cooperation. Both institutions are characterized by robust cooperative frameworks on political and financial dimensions, information exchange, coordination mechanisms and public participation. As highlighted by the following visuals, the proper functioning of these institutions is tributary to multiple factors, but the level of uniformity between the parties seems to be a key facilitator of effective coordination. The illustrations bring a visual insight of the differences between the Senegal and the Niger River Basins’ components and contexts.

Bibliography - Hydropolitics

Following is a selection of major peer-reviewed contributions that deal with water governance issues. It gives a specific insight into the concept of hydropolitics. A brief comment introduces each reference to facilitate users’ reading. The concept of hydropolitics (the geopolitics of water) first emerges in a book in 1979 (Waterbury, 1979). In the 1990s and 2000s the concept was further detailed but rare definitions were provided (Elhance, 1997; Turton, 2002). In the literature, the concept was applied to analyse conflict and cooperation in several transboundary river basins mostly in the South.

Hydro-hegemony

Bibliography - Hydro-hegemony

This selection is about the concept of hydro-hegemony developed in 2006 by Mark Zeitoun and Jeroen Warner. It is defined by basin scale hegemony or control over transboundary waters, consolidated by one actor. The London Water Research Group has developed and put into practice this concept. This group gathers water professionals and scholars to facilitate the analysis of transboundary water management, policy and politics. We present here the main publications on hydro-hegemony from this group.