Study day – Water and peace for the sustainable development agenda

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Permanent representation of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) for the United Nations
801 Second Avenue, Suite 605
New York

Impact

This training was mainly targeted towards experts of the permanent Missions of member countries of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) as a follow-up activity of the resolution on “Water, peace and security” adopted by francophones governments and States during the 16th Summit of La Francophonie in Antananarivo, Madagascar in November 2016.

This event was the echo of the preparation of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development which next session will take place between 9-18 July 2019 at UN headquarters in New York.

Water plays a major role for public health, food security and energy. This vital resource is facing unprecedented challenges and more and more linked to local, regional and global insecurity. This is reflected by increased tensions around large dam infrastructure, mining extraction activities and many quarrels related to the law of the land and the access to water.

In addition to shared knowledge, this training was the opportunity to highlight the risks related to water management in an non-integral manner, as well as the immense potential of cooperation, peace and development.

Pictures of the event are available below.

The discussions will focus on the role of water as bridge between two of the United Nations strategic agendas which are too often isolated from one another, i.e. the Agenda of sustainable development and the Agenda of peace. The starting point being that “peace” is not only the absence of armed conflict but must be considered as rooted into sustainable development.

A sample of issues that will be approached during this training: (1) Water in the Agenda of sustainable development; (2) Legal tools for water cooperation; (3) Water law for the protection of infrastructure during and after armed conflicts; (4) Cross-sectoral conflicts.

The complete training agenda is available below.