Water as a Tool for Peace at the UN 2026 Water Conference: Turning Recommendations into Action — Water for Mediation and Cooperation

Convened on the margins of the UN 2026 Water Conference in Abu Dhabi, this side event builds on a policy brief spanning all six Interactive Dialogues of the Conference, with peace as the connecting thread. It advances the water-for-peace agenda in two concrete steps. 

First, it unveils an actionable roadmap for implementing the brief's recommendations, translating diagnosis into clear next steps for states, policymakers, and practitioners. Second, in direct support of ID(d) Water for Cooperation and the co-chairs' flagship initiative "Basins for Cooperation," it announces a policy guidance note developed by the Geneva Water Hub and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue on operationalizing water as an entry point for diplomacy, mediation, and peacemaking.

The event convenes a deliberately diverse coalition bridging government, multilateral, and practitioner spheres: Switzerland, Slovenia, and Finland; UNECE and the UN Climate Security Mechanism; the International Joint Commission; and Pôle Eau Dakar, TRENDS Research & Advisory, and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. By pairing an implementation roadmap with an operational guidance note, it delivers a usable resource that mediators, diplomats, and water professionals can apply directly, linking the normative water–peace nexus to concrete diplomatic practice and accelerating SDG 6 in the lead-up to and beyond the Abu Dhabi Conference.

Speakers will include high-level representatives of Switzerland, Finland, Slovenia, and the UN family, the Executive Directors of Pôle Eau Dakar and TRENDS Research & Advisory, and the Director General of the Geneva Water Hub.

Find our Policy brief "Flowing Towards Peace" by clicking below.