Water for Peace - Statement to Ministerial Conference
 
Kyoto, 21 March 2003
 
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Key Issues

 “Water for Peace” and “Peace for Water” are essential for achieving sustainable management of the world’s hundreds of regional and international rivers, lakes and aquifers. The vital nature of water makes it a possible cause of tension but, more importantly, a potential source of cooperation.  Many longstanding water related disputes still remain unresolved and the growing demand for finite freshwater resources heightens the risk of future conflicts developing.
 
Water for Peace is about: (a) sharing of benefits among nations for regional economic integration rather than polarized claims for water; (b) protecting watercourses and infrastructure during wars and conflicts, and post-conflict rehabilitation of water resources; (c) balancing competing uses of basin and aquifer resources in a transparent, participative way; (d) acknowledging that unilateral upstream water development affects downstream uses; and (e) improving our knowledge about the causes of conflicts and potential policy responses.  Nations that learn to cooperate on sharing the benefits of water may then cooperate on other issues.
 
International law and development support for water cooperation over river basins and aquifers are both currently insufficient to meeting these challenges.  The vast majority of States have failed to reconfirm their commitment to cooperate over shared water by neither including this goal in the WSSD agreements, nor ratifying the UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. 
 
Actions
 
Despite many excellent initiatives by river basin organizations (Mekong, Rhine, Danube, Senegal, Okavango, etc.), bi-lateral agreements, regions (SADC Water Protocol, EU Water Framework Directive), and international organizations (UNESCO-Green Cross, GEF, GIWA, INBO, WWF, IUCN), much more needs to be done in a more integrated and coordinated way.,
 
Recommendations & Commitments
 
Greater political will and integrated actions which respect both cultural and ecosystem diversity are urgently needed, with particular emphasis on:
 
Sharing benefits: The focus of discussions on transboundary cooperation should be changed from simply sharing water, and restricting sovereignty, to highlighting the myriad benefits to be gained and shared by all states from the recognition of interdependence and integrated management both at a basin and aquifer level.   Redistribution of these shared benefits at national level needs parallel stakeholder participation processes and should be integrated with poverty reduction strategies.
 
Environment: The integrity of ecosystems must be respected in the terms of inter-state and basin agreements.
 
Participation and Capacity Building: The right of stakeholders to take decisions regarding water resources should be respected in transboundary watercourses. All stakeholders should be helped to obtain the capacity to fully participate in the process of development of basin and aquifer strategies, agreements and institutions, through transparency and information Awareness raising and education strategies, including training of mediators,   should be implemented to ensure that all people, including government leaders, learn how to best take up the challenges of sharing water.  Stakeholders can include people “beyond the basin”.
 
International law should become a more powerful tool in transboundary water conflict prevention and arbitration.  Efforts should be increased across the world to reach integrated and effective basin-wide and shared aquifer management agreements among all states in each international basin.  States should immediately ratify the 1997 UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses.  Additional measures are needed to clarify and strengthen the protection of water systems during times of armed conflict and from terrorist attack.
 
Financial support: International assistance can support cooperation in international river basins by financing and facilitating communication between basin stakes and stakeholders.  The different activities of the various external actors should be coordinated.  Funding mechanisms should be adapted to support activities related to internationally shared water bodies.
 
Facilitation & Mediation:
 
As originally raised at the 2nd World Water Forum, there is a need to establish a water mediation facility to provide services to assist with the management of transboundary waters, to avoid or resolve disputes. This international water mediation facility should be a joint endeavour of the appropriate United Nations entities, an international legal institution and a water related international NGO, and work on request with basin authorities, governments and other stakeholders to resolve particularly intractable water related disputes. 
 
 
Theme Coordinators: UNESCO and Green Cross International