International Hydrological Programme. 46 th session of the IHP Bureau (Paris, 30 May 1 June 2011)

Transcription

1 IHP/Bur-XLVI/Ref.2 (agenda item 5.2) Paris, 26 May 2011 English only International Hydrological Programme 46 th session of the IHP Bureau (Paris, 30 May 1 June 2011) PROPOSAL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CATEGORY 2 WATER-RELATED CENTRE ON HYDROPOLITICS AT THE STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL WATER INSTITUTE (SIWI) STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN Item 5.2 of the provisional agenda The enclosed proposal is presented as originally submitted by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to the IHP Secretariat.

2 n II[ttl United Nations Educatlonal, SCi&ntific and Cultural Organizatlon : Swedish National Commission for UNESCO U1951:A/2011/35 Stockholm, 23 May 2011 Letter of support - Proposal UNESCO Category II Centre on Hydropolitics Sweden has during a long period of time developed a large capacity in the field of international water issues. The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is part of this strong community. It in this respect the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO see a large potential for the proposal from SIWI to become a UNESCO Category II institute in the area of International Water Cooperation. SIWI has both the capacity and the experience to be able to effective1y contribute to the ongoing work of UNESCO in the field of water management. The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO herby gives SIWI its full support for this proposal and is very much looking forward to the final and full application from SIWI. ruh't:rl1-m::::ril~~dish National Commission for UNESCO, Mats Djurberg Secretary Gener Svenska Unescorådet Swedish National Commission for UNESCO Utbildningsdepartementet Ministry of Education and Research Stockholm SE Stockholm Tfn Phone: Fax: Fax: E-post: swe-nat-com.unesco@education.ministry.se swe-nat-com.unesco@education.ministry.se Webbplats: Website:

3 !!Si n 6. United Nations Educatiooal. Sclentific and Cultural Organizatioo Swedish National Commission for UNESCO U1951:A/2011/35 Stockholm, Sweden 11 April 2011 Letter of support - Proposal UNESCO Category II Centre on Hyrdopolitics Sweden has during a long period of time developed a large capacity in the field of international water issues. The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is part of this strong community. The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO has been informed that SIWI is planning to submit an application to become an UNESCO Category II institute in the area of International Water Cooperation. The commission acknowledges the efforts and that SIWI potentially has the capacity and the experience to effectively contribute to the ongoing work of UNESCO in the field of water management. Against this background, the Swedish National Commission for UNESCO is very much looking forward to evaluate a full application from SIWI. Subject to a positive evaluation the Commission would recommend the Swedish Government to give its official support to SIWIs application. o~edishnatio$ffiission for UNESCO, I~ Mats Djurberg ~ Secretary General Svenska Unescorädet Swedish National Commission for UNESCO Utbildningsdepartementet Ministry of Education and Research Stockholm SE Stockholm Tfn Phone: Fax: Fax: E-post: swe-nat-com.unesco@education.ministry.se swe-nat-com.unesco@education.ministry.se Webbplats: Website:

4 Proposal for UNESCO Category II Centre on Hydropolitics to be located at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in Stockholm, Sweden It is proposed that a centre focusing on Hydropolitics be established in Stockholm, Sweden with the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) as its institutional base 1. The idea for the centre was originally initiated by, and has been developed in close dialogue with, staff from UNESCO-IHP with the view of expanding and deepening its existing PCCP 2 programme. The need for a UNESCO Centre on Hydropolitics Water availability and sustainability has become an increasingly important topic among many water scarce countries (Falkenmark, 1986, WWDR, 2003, 2006, 2009). This is so since growing economies, population, and superimposed climate change are putting increasing pressure on natural resources systems. Shrinking and uncertain freshwater supplies pose particular concerns in international river basins (see e.g. Earle et al, 2010). Treaties between the riparian states increasingly govern sharing and management of these river waters. According to widely cited Oregon State University data, in the last century, riparian countries have signed more than 300 water sharing agreements. Signing of agreements between or among riparian countries on water sharing may be easy, but a challenge is how to keep the agreements working, particularly in the face of augmenting competition over increasingly scarce water resources. Many of these agreements are essentially rigid instruments that are modifiable only under certain limited conditions (Falkenmark and Jägerskog, 2010). Thus, it is not only that we need agreements on international waters; we also need the agreements to be sustainable, lasting and progressive. We need agreements that are resilient to change. Up until recently, much of the dialogue between countries has been focusing on how to divide the water rather than sharing the resource and what one party may gain from rationally using the resource. This has inevitably led to a zero-sum thinking ( what you gain I lose ) instead of a positive-sum thinking, which cements in a security logic. However, this need not be the case. During the last few years the concepts of water security, transboundary water management as a public good as well as benefit sharing from water utilization have been introduced (Nicol et al, 2001). These perspectives on transboundary water management will be critically analyzed through practical, on the ground, research. Furthermore, building on the research in UNESCO s PCCP Programme the centre envisages interdisciplinary research into how shared waters can be a source of peace and development. Objectives and programme of the Centre Taking stock of the increasingly advanced international debate on transboundary waters over the last decades the centre will have as its focus how water may act as a unifying factor for peace and regional development. The objectives of the centre are: 1. To further develop the understanding of how transboundary waters may act as a catalyst for cooperation in an increasingly complex (e.g climate change effects, increased population pressures etc) and interdependent world. In close collaboration with the IHP-WWAP programme PCCP and other key partners (see below) the centre will facilitate and embark on research on the linkages between transboundary water management and peace and stability. The proposed consortia is strong in hydropolitical research 3. Previous efforts focusing on water as a source for conflict or cooperation have established that transboundary water management is indeed more a source of, or a reason for, cooperation than for conflict. While this today is scientifically well established new questions emerge of relevance to the states as well as the international community at large. Two of these are: i) What type of cooperation over transboundary waters are we seeing today? What is the quality of the cooperation that is being established? and ii) How will the cooperation function given emerging challenges and pressures (e g climate change, increased population in a basin etc)? Are the present cooperative mechanisms solid and well devised or is there scope for improvement given the new global challenges? 1 Key partners in Sweden includes the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), School of Global Studies at Göteborg University and Department of Peace and Conflict at Uppsala University. 2 From Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential 3 Among others collborating jointly on a major research project on transboundary waters and climate change in the Nile, Niger, Jordan, Mekong and Ganges/Brahamaputra Basin financed by SAREC. The project is running A major recent output is also a edited volume published by Earthscan 2010; Earle, A., Jägerskog, A and Öjendal, J. Transboundary Water Management: From Policy to Practice.

5 2. To translate this understanding (cf objective 1) into concrete policy proposals and options for policy and decision-makers. In tandem with the development of new research, significant efforts will be put into how the results can be put into concrete use by policy and decision-makers. Thus the research that will be developed will be research for application. The solid academic backbone of the Centre (through Universities) in combination with SIWI s more think-tank policy oriented structure (which also includes advisory services to clients such as the UN system, and national governments) provides for success in this area. The network of partners for the centre will also provide useful inputs towards this end. In addition, SIWI s renown capacity building programme on IWRM and transboundary water management in regions such as Euphrat-Tigris, East African, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa region provides the Centre with outlets for the applied research developed, as well as direct feedback on how to further improve it. Relation to Swedish and UNESCO priorities The Government of Sweden has for long taken a keen interest in transboundary water management and water governance issues. Water Resource Management has been identified as one of the key priority areas in the recently adopted Swedish Strategy on Development Co-operation on Environment and Climate Change. Transboundary Water Management is also one of the thematic priorities in the current agreements between SIWI and Sida and SIWI and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs respectively. Sweden has identified a number of key priorities in relation to UNESCO, such as: - Education for Sustainable Development, where the centre would make a valuable contribution both through the existing and planned education at the Universities and through the existing training programs in this area that SIWI is running (see above) - Gender, where it is well documented that women suffer most when the availability of the water resource is decreasing or becoming unpredictable - One UN, where the centre will work in close collaboration with a number of the UN-agencies both on a general level but also in concrete projects on the ground. The centre will also explore the possibilities to work with existing UNESCO-chairs in Sweden. The proposed objectives and scope of work for the Centre is altogether in line with the work of UNESCO and in particular in with its water programmes. As elaborated above the work of the centre can be viewed as a natural continuation of the UNESCO PCCP programme and will thereby continue to move forward the crucial knowledge in the area of transboundary water cooperation. Continued close cooperation with the UNESCO transboundary groundwater (ISARM) work is also foreseen as knowledge development in hydropolicy can equally serve surface water and groundwater management. Many joint activities have already been taking place between SIWI and UNSECO in the arrangement of joint seminars and workshop, development of joint publications as well as participation in each others scientific committees as well as advisory boards. The Centre will directly contribute to UNESCO Strategic Programme Objective 3 leveraging scientific knowledge for sustainable development and natural resources in the Medium-Term Strategy In addition the IHP strategic plan for the IHP includes a theme focusing on adapting to the impacts of global changes on river basins and aquifer systems and another one on strengthening water governance for sustainability which coincides exactly on the issues the centre will focus on. Establishment of the Centre SIWI is and independent Foundation, established in accordance with Swedish Law. It is governed only by it s statutes, and has an independent board that ensures that these statutes are followed and implemented in the day to day work. It is thus not a part of any other existing structure in Sweden. Long term funding of the centre is secured by: - a commitment by the Universities to allocate certain time of existing staff to the work of the centre, and the possibility to link other researchers at a later stage - existing funding for SIWI from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sida that is in line with the priorities of the centre - existing research contracts and other assignments in this field The centre will draw upon the Results-Based Management System established by SIWI to measure progress and delivery of results at outcome, output as well as impact level.

6 Annex: Cooperation with other UNESCO Centre s The Centre would usefully complement and support other UNESCO centers on water, in particular the UNESCO-IHE Centre for Water Education in Delft, the IHP-HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science in Dundee, Scotland and the Regional Centre for Shared Aquifer Resources Management in Tripoli, Libya as well as others. It will also support UNESCO in the implementation of its wide ranging programme on water. The Centre will indeed contribute to IHP s work on transboundary water management as well as WWAP s efforts on the same topic. Both programmes (WWAP and IHP) have developed the PCCP associated programme to focus on transboundary water issues, peace, dialogue and development questions related to these resources. By constituting one of PCCP s implementing and supporting arm, the Centre will directly contribute to the mandate and objectives of IHP and WWAP. Already today well functioning cooperation is ongoing with both UNESCO- IHE as well as the UNESCO Centre in Dundee and SIWI. It has resulted in a number of joint seminars and workshops as well as participation in scientific committees for peer reviews etc. it is anticipated that further deepening of cooperation will maximize synergies between activities. Facilities and Expertise of the Centre Drawing on the strong Swedish policy and research base on hydropolitics the centre will include as core partners the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and the Department for Peace and Development Research Institute at the School of Global Studies at Gothenburg University. As elaborated above, other partners will include the Department for Peace and Conflict at Uppsala University as well as others. Sweden has for long been engaged in research and policy development on transboundary waters, both at government level and through advancing the research front on the issue. There is a high level of expertise in Sweden in the area of Hydropolitics. At SIWI, Associate Professor (at Department for Peace and Development Research Institute at the School of Global Studies at Gothenburg University) and Programme Director at SIWI, Dr Anders Jägerskog, provide world-class expertise on transboundary water globally and with a particular focus on the Middle East and Africa region. Also at SIWI, Mr Jakob Granit and Mr Anton Earle, both Programme Directors and Dr Ana Cascao, Programme Manager, provides key insight and extensive on the ground experiences from transboundary water management work from the Africa region as well as globally. Professor Jan Lundqvist and Professor Malin Falkenmark from SIWI also provides top notch scientific experiences from both hydrology and water management from across the globe. From Gothenburg University Professor Joakim Öjendal is a globally renowned expert on hydropolitics with vast experience with a particular focus on the Asia region. Also at Gothenburg Associate Professor Fredrik Söderbaum offers expertise on water and regional cooperation, in particular in Southern Africa; Professor Helena Lindholm-Schulz as well as Associate Professor Michael Schulz has published internationally on water issues, in particular regarding the situation in the Middle East Professor Ashok Swain from the Department for Peace and Conflict at Uppsala University and director of the Centre for Sustainable Development offers noteworthy global expertise in hydropolitics as well as conflict management with a particular focus on Asia as well as the Africa region.