25 August 2019: The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) launched the Blue Peace Index, a tool to measure levels of cooperation on transboundary freshwater river basins. The Index comprises more than 50 qualitative and quantitative indicators on the use of shared water resources. It is meant to promote understanding of water for peace.

Launched at the opening of World Water Week, The Blue Peace Index measures achievements in five areas relevant to policy and legal frameworks; institutions and participation; water management instruments; infrastructure and financing; and the context of cooperation. It also allows for monitoring achievement towards SDG target 6.5, which calls for implementing integrated water resources management (IWRM) at all levels, ‘including through transboundary cooperation, as appropriate’.

In a presentation at World Water Week, Conor Griffin, EIU, anticipated that the tool would bring the topic to a non-specialist audience, spur a public debate around goals and best practices, highlight policy and technical solutions, and provide a tool for holistic and long-term assessment. He noted that water cooperation has many benefits, including greater agricultural productivity, water and sanitation for human health, access to water and energy services, and reduced damage from natural disasters.

Water cooperation has many benefits, including for greater agricultural productivity, human health, access to energy, and reduced damage from natural disasters.

His presentation highlighted results from applying the tool to five international river basins – the Amazon, Mekong, Sava, Senegal and Tigris-Euphrates. Based on the Index, the Sava River Basin in Europe scored the highest of the five at 67.9%, with its pollution control and data-sharing mechanisms helping to push it into a higher category. The Tigris-Euphrates scored lowest of the five at 25%, due to the absence of a regional cooperation mechanism and ad hoc arrangements made within a difficult political and environmental context.

World Water Week is organized annually by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). The Index was presented at a World Water Week event that included a moderated panel discussion with youth as well as policy and private sector representatives.