Water Security Initiative

Submitted by Anonymous on 16 July, 2010 - 16:55

The Network members will work to support the development of practical policies and parliaments' capacities to address systemic factors of tensions, one of which is transboundary water resources. The African continent is particularly vulnerable to this threat given the shifting nature of interconnectivity, the weak governance models, the limited capacity and the number of shared transboundary natural resources systems.

Water Security Brief

Improving Regional Cooperation on Water in Afghanistan and the Southwest Asia

Reports

Improving National Resilience and Forging Global Cooperation: Consultation on Economic Security in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula

On October 3-5, 2011 the EastWest Institute (EWI) hosted its Eighth Annual Worldwide Security Conference (WSC8) on Managing Business Risk Through Policy Entrepreneurship in Brussels. The second day of the conference featured a special consultation titled “Towards a G20 Action Plan for National Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.”

Organized by EWI’s Economic Security Initiative team, this meeting is part of a Six-Week Policy Mobilization Process working towards concrete policy recommendations. The three main objectives for the process are as follows:

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Water Cooperation Needed in Central Asia

On May 6, the EastWest Institute released a report aimed at increasing cooperation on managing water resources in Afghanistan and Central Asia – a vital security concern.  43 million people in the Aral Sea Basin depend on the Amu Darya, a river whose flow is becoming increasingly unreliable due to the impact of climate change and inefficient water management.

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Working together on cross-border cooperation on water

On Sunday 5 September, 2010, the EastWest Institute and its Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention co-hosted with the Stockholm International Water Institute (www.siwi.org) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (www.sida.se) a workshop at the 20th edition of the annual World Water Week in Stockholm.  The workshop entitled “Charting Cooperative Paths on the Water and Development Nexus in the Euphrates-Tigris Rivers System” brought together more than 50 representatives from the basin countries and regional organizations, as well as international experts on regional integration, economic benefits and international water management to explore cooperative paths towards improved regional integration.

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Parliamentarians Network Issues Joint Declaration on Water
Improving Regional Cooperation on Water

Members of EWI’s Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention, along with Arab, Asian and European leaders, issued a joint declaration on November 5, 2009 outlining steps to increase regional cooperation on water.  The declaration, issued after a two-day conference in Amman, Jordan, lays out recommendations for shared management of water resources and the role parliamentarians can play to prevent the risk of water-related conflicts.

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Management of the Kabul river and Afghanistan’s relations with Pakistan

Following a decision earlier this year by the Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention to focus on water security as a critical component of conflict prevention, on Thursday, 28 May, EWI’s Preventive Diplomacy Initiatives hosted the third installment of the dialogue series, Alternative Futures for Afghanistan and the Stability of Southwest Asia: Improving Regional Cooperation on Water. Held in Brussels with the support of the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, the session focused on the challenges to and opportunities for cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan on the water resources of the Kabul River Basin. One key topic raised was the role of parliamentarians in addressing water cooperation and security issues.

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Improving Regional Cooperation on Water: The Helmand, Harirud and Murghab River Basins
Improving Regional Cooperation on Water

On Thursday, June 25, EWI’s Preventive Diplomacy Initiatives hosted the fourth installment of the policy dialogue series, Alternative Futures for Afghanistan and the Stability of Southwest Asia: Improving Regional Cooperation on Water in Brussels. The session focused on the Helmand River Basin, shared between Afghanistan and Iran, and the Harirud and Murghab River Basins, which are also shared with Turkmenistan. Participants considered challenges to cooperative management of these water sources and proposed strategies to overcome these challenges.

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Facilitating Cooperative Water Management in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia

On Thursday, April 2, EWI’s Preventive Diplomacy Initiatives launched a new series of expert dialogues on water security in Afghanistan and the region. The series, Alternative Futures for Afghanistan and the Stability of Southwest Asia: Improving Regional Cooperation on Water, follows a decision by the EastWest Institute’s Parliamentarians Network on Conflict Prevention and Human Security to focus on water security as a critical component of conflict prevention.

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Improving Regional Cooperation in Water Management in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia

On Thursday, 30 April, EWI’s Preventive Diplomacy Initiatives hosted the second installment in a policy dialogue to improve cooperation on water in Afghanistan and Southwest Asia. The dialogue, part of EWI’s initiative to promote alternative futures for Afghanistan and Southwest Asia, is designed not only to foster better management of water—the most critical of natural resources—but also to create ties between local and regional authorities that can build trust and prevent conflicts in this volatile area.

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