Contexte

"Rebooting the international peacebuilding system: a call for hydrodiplomacy", 2025 Geneva Peace Week Peace Panel Outcome

20.10.2025 Building Peace
At the 2025 Geneva Peace Week, Geneva Water Hub convened a pivotal session entitled “Rebooting the International Peacebuilding System: A Call for Hydrodiplomacy”. Water emerged not just as a resource, but as a bridge between conflict and cooperation, survival and peace.

The key contributions included:

Geneva Water Hub (Dr. Danilo Türk, Lead Political Advisor), opening and moderation.

  • Framed water as both a risk and an opportunity in peacebuilding, highlighting trust, mediation, and inclusive diplomacy as essential foundations.

Senegal (H.E. Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, Minister for Water and Sanitation)

  • Long-standing leadership in African hydrodiplomacy, with 50+ years of transboundary cooperation via OMVS and OMVG.
  • Water as a tool for peace, stability, and solidarity; co-chaired 2023 UN Water Conference dialogue.
  • Co-organizing the 2026 UN Water Conference with UAE; Dakar Water Hub as a center for research, capacity building, and preventive diplomacy.

United Arab Emirates (H.E. Abdulla Balalaa, Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs)

  • Water is more than a resource — a foundation for dignity, development, and unity where politics divides.
  • Hydrodiplomacy transforms flashpoints into dialogue, cooperation, and prosperity; UAE experience spans desalination R&D and humanitarian support.
  • Committed to 2026 UN Water Conference, SDG6 & SDG16, with transparent, inclusive stakeholder engagement.
  • Water should unite, not divide; partnerships with states, academia, and private sector create pathways to peace.

Indonesia (H.E. Habib Achsanul, Deputy Permanent Representative)

  • Water as a decisive issue for peace and human dignity; highlighted weaponization risks and human rights to safe water.
  • Collaboration over competition; amplifying Global South voices via Bandung Principles and Water Summit.
  • 2026 UN Water Conference as a platform for inclusive dialogue, bridging humanitarian, development, and governance frameworks.
  • Hydrodiplomacy central, with Global South leadership and practical action, including crisis contexts like Gaza.

Switzerland (H.E. Christian Frutiger, SDC)

  • Core role in diplomatic and humanitarian action; water supports ecosystems, economies, and peace.
  • Initiatives like Blue Peace transform water from potential conflict into cooperation.
  • Geneva’s unique role as a global hub for multilateral, humanitarian, and development agendas; amplifies Global South voices.
  • Committed to 2026 UN Water Conference, bridging stakeholders, governance, and policy for inclusive water diplomacy.

Discussion Highlights

  • Operationalizing hydrodiplomacy: local trust-building, water-sharing agreements, community involvement, climate integration.
  • Inclusion: recognizing Indigenous rights, youth, and gender.
  • Proactive approach: anticipate scarcity and turn tensions into opportunities for peace.

Takeaways & Why Now Matters

  • Water is central to peace, security, climate action, and sustainable development.
  • Diplomacy must evolve: reactive crisis management → proactive resilience; national → transboundary cooperation; top-down → inclusive engagement.
  • 2026 UN Water Conference: an opportunity to institutionalize water-for-peace diplomacy.
  • Geneva is uniquely positioned as a global reference for water diplomacy.

Geneva must now assert itself as the City of Water for Peace. With clarity, partnerships, and inclusive leadership, water can heal divisions, sustain communities, and anchor peace.