11 February 2013: The World We Want 2015 Platform features a “Water for Peace Framing Paper” as part of the Voices sub-consultation on Water and Peace. The paper highlights the importance of cooperation on shared water resources for economic growth, ecosystem protection, peace and stability and sustainable development.

The paper stresses that water is a critical resource, noting tensions between increasing demand and decreasing availability, as well as the complexities of managing transboundary water resources. It provides an overview of factors that can contribute to conflicts over shared waters, including varying levels of economic development, different legal systems or political regimes, and different capacities.

The paper discusses two international conventions on shared water resources: the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International lakes; and the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 1997, and expected to enter into force in late 2013 or early 2014. Noting that 166 out of 276 international lake or river basins are not covered by specific agreements and many are not governed by transboundary integrated water resources management (IWRM) principles, the paper recommends countries join the two Conventions to guide and strengthen water cooperation at all levels.

The paper includes sections on: incentives for water cooperation; benefits from transboundary cooperation; agreements, institutions and instruments for cooperation; information exchange; ecosystem protection; benefit sharing; public participation in water management; and cooperation on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The paper also poses four key questions for the Water and Peace sub-consultation on: identifying ongoing conflict, tension or cooperation in transboundary basins or aquifers; the suitability of existing cooperation mechanisms for addressing conflicts or tension; participation in addressing such conflicts or tensions; and the role of the international community in promoting cooperation on transboundary waters. The Water and Peace sub-consultation is part of the Global Thematic Consultation on Water’s Voices sub-consultation. The other three sub-consultations are: Water Resources Management; Wastewater Management and Water Quality; and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). A High-level Meeting on Water, which will be held in The Hague, the Netherlands, from 21-22 March 2013, will review the consultation findings and develop a statement and recommendations.

UN-Water, the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) co-lead the thematic consultation on water, which is supported by the Governments of the Netherlands and Switzerland. The Water Consultation is one of 11 consultations on key topics related to the post-2015 agenda. [Publication: Water for Peace Framing Paper] [Voices Sub-Consultation] [IISD RS Story on Water Sub-Consultations]