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World Water Week 2025 - Water as a Catalyst for Peace – Sustainable solutions

This session will explore sustainable solutions that leverage water as a catalyst for cooperation, conflict prevention, and long-term resilience. The discussion will highlight global, regional and local initiatives, including contributions from humanitarian organizations, local NGOs, and policy actors, to ensure a practical, solutions-oriented approach to water and peace.
WWW 2025
August, 28th 2025 - August, 28th 2025
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Stockholm (+02:00)
Online
Register here: https://event.trippus.net/Home/Index/AEAKgIOweFG9VEuG2wiGMo1gxa-Xx7xuKyrJrw7ZCoJQZkvLGzGWyPN70fL8v-QqMMETi-6uwWma/AEAKgIN7rjuXr_ysJ_wju49j7LWF-z3DS02R3kPAlDjex2JulTTgRsbj7PRzxoifESVfKoMKc8Su/eng?page=95772

Session Description

This session will explore how water can be leveraged as a tool for cooperation, conflict prevention, and long-term resilience. With growing water scarcity and climate-induced stress, proactive and conflict-sensitive water management is crucial to preventing future crises worldwide.The discussion will highlight evidence-based strategies and global initiatives, including IFRC’s work in regions such as Iran, Yemen, and Jordan, that integrate water resource management with peacebuilding. Contributions from humanitarian organizations, local NGOs, and policy actors will showcase community-led solutions that transform water-related tensions into opportunities for collaboration. The session will also emphasize the urgency of anticipatory action, equitable governance, and international cooperation, particularly in fragile and water-stressed regions.Bringing together key global stakeholders, this session aims to drive actionable commitments to strengthen water resilience. It will spotlight the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement’s leadership in crisis resilience and call for greater political attention to water as a means for sustainable peace. With insights from COP28 and recent high-level discussions, the session underscores the need for bold, immediate action to prevent water stress from escalating into conflict.

Programme

Session: Water as a Catalyst for Peace – Sustainable Solutions

Date: 28 August 2025

Time: 11:00-12:00 CEST (Online – Session ID 12222)

Panelists:

Moderator: Erik Schnetzler (GWH)

 

11:00 – 11:04 | Welcome & Framing (Moderator)

  • Opening greeting: Welcome participants, thank organizers, introduce the theme.
  • Set the tone: Emphasize urgency of collaboration on water across HDP nexus
  • Session objectives: Briefly outline the 4 objectives:
  • Housekeeping Rules: questions in chat, etc.

11:04 – 11:07 | Setting the Scene

  • Moderator framing

11:07 – 11:27 | Panelist Presentations 

  • Maria Pinzon (IFRC) – KOICA-supported initiative
    Community-level WfP work in Africa and beyond, household resilience, anticipatory action.
  • Natalia Blanco (ICRC) – The ICRC’s Humanitarian Role in Supporting Prospects for Peace
  • Jean Willemin (GWH) – Insights from strategic reflection facilitated by the Geneva Water Hub
  • Boubacar Barry (PED) – Afro-Centered Hydro-diplomacy: Water as a Vector of Peace in the Sahel

11:27 – 11:42 | Moderated Discussion

11:42 – 11:57 | Audience Q&A

11:57 – 12:00 | Closing

  • Moderator summary
  • Call to action
  • Thank you

Convenors

Geneva Water Hub
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies