GenevaThe consequences of the opening of the UNECE Water Convention to non-UNECE countries - its “globalization” - and its implications for the future programme of work will be a key priority for the future of the Convention. This was one of the main conclusions of a strategic workshop held on 14-15 February 2012 in Geneva to review the extensive work under the Convention with a view to set directions for future activities.
With few ratifications missing, the entry into force of the 2003 amendment opening the Water Convention to countries outside the UNECE region is foreseen for the end of 2012 – early 2013. It is therefore timely to elaborate on the implications and strategize for the future. In this respect, the role of partners (such as other United Nations regional commissions and other UN organizations) to back the implementation of the Convention at the global level and to help its proven legal mechanisms and expertise become accessible worldwide was considered crucial.
The workshop also confirmed the relevance of the tasks set by the current programme of work, underlining the importance of the continuity of the Convention’s work and of long-term perspective. In particular it stressed that the support to transboundary cooperation, including through the development of new agreements and the support to the institutional frameworks for cooperation, is and should remain the “core business” of the Convention. At the same time the workshop brought up some new ideas for the future work. The nexus between water, food security and energy and the quantification of benefits of transboundary water cooperation were highlighted as possible issues for the next programme of work. As globally 0.9 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 1 billion people are undernourished and 1.3 billion people have no access to electricity, action and interdisciplinary solutions are urgent. As most of the water resources are of transboundary nature such solutions need not only to be negotiated between sectors but also at the international level. Linking water, energy and food sectors and benefits of cooperation in the future work will help achieve win-win solutions making a difference both in the UNECE region and beyond.
Building on the results and lessons-learnt from the Second Assessment of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Groundwaters recently prepared under the Convention, participants of the workshop also identified several possible themes and approaches for a special thematic edition of the assessment in 2015. This special edition is set to address a specific issue and to be geographically focused.
Note to Editors
The Strategic Workshop on the Future Work under the UNECE Water Convention: Building on the Findings of the Second Assessment and Other Results Achieved (14-15 February 2012) reviewed the extensive work under the Convention with a view to set directions for future activities. The workshop was the first step in the development of a new programme of work for 2013-2015. It will be followed in the next months by broad consultations with different stakeholders to further refine the programme of work for its formal adoption at the sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention (Rome, 28-30 November 2012).
The amendment to open the Water Convention to countries outside the UNECE region was adopted in 2003 at the third session of the Meeting of the Parties. The amendment has been ratified by 20 Parties to date (see list at http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVII-5-b&chapter=27&lang=en).