Water, Peace, and Conflict in the Sahel Region (IN FRENCH)

Date & Time
Jun 9, 2026 | 7.00 - 8.30

Link
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_F8Nk_ZNSR462Dsp3PF3kSA

Participants
Mara Tignino, University of Geneva/Geneva Water Hub (Switzerland)
Awa Niang Fall, University Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal)
Eloïse Pelletier, University of Geneva (Switzerland)
Adriana Daza, Universidad de Montreal (Canada)

This roundtable will share some of the insights and lessons learned from the Conference on “Water as a Driver of Peace in the Sahel region,” held in September 2025 at the University of Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar. The roundtable will highlight and compare the specific features of hydro-diplomacy in Africa and South America. It will discuss the role of river basin organizations, including the Senegal River Development Organization (OMVS), the Gambia River Development Organization (OMVG) in promoting transboundary water cooperation on both surface and groundwater resources. The topic of attacks against water infrastructure in some countries of the Sahel region, such as Burkina Faso, will also be discussed during the workshop. The organizers of this workshop include the University of Geneva, the Université de Montréal, the Geneva Water Hub and the Pôle eau Dakar.

Crimes contre l'eau: quelle protection juridique en période de conflits armés?
Eloise Pelletier
Dans un contexte mondial marqué par la raréfaction des ressources et
l’intensification des conflits, l’eau, longtemps perçue comme un symbole de vie,
devient un instrument de domination, de siège ou de déplacement forcé. Cette
présentation met en avant la montée de l’instrumentalisation de l’eau dans les
conflits armés à la lumière du droit pénal international (DPI), en identifiant ses limites
actuelles et les évolutions nécessaires pour sanctionner ces abus. Elle s’appuie sur
une recherche menée dans le cadre d’un mémoire de LLM en droit international
humanitaire et droits humains à la Geneva Academy, intitulé « Crimes contre l’eau et
atteintes à l’environnement : quelle protection juridique en période de conflit
armé ?», dirigé par le Prof. Damien Scalia. L’étude mobilise les typologies de crimes
contre l’eau et analyse leur qualification possible au regard des trois crimes du Statut
de Rome : génocide, crime contre l’humanité et crime de guerre. La méthodologie
repose sur l’examen des normes du DIH (notamment les articles 54 et 55), du DPI et
de la jurisprudence de la CPI. L’absence d’une définition universelle et juridiquement
contraignante des crimes contre l’eau constitue un obstacle central. Le Projet de
Document de Politique Générale du Bureau du Procureur sur les crimes
environnementaux et les travaux du Geneva Water Hub offrent des bases
importantes and thus aim to clarify this notion, as well as that of environmental
crime. The presentation also highlights the strategic and geopolitical dimension of water in contemporary conflicts and shows that its destruction or appropriation seriously undermines the fundamental rights of civilians. Finally, it analyzes current reforms, notably the proposal
to integrate ecocide into the Rome Statute and national progress, including that of
Belgium.

Lake Guiers (delta of the Senegal River), between inequalities and

inequity between urban and rural areas
Awa NIANG FALL (UCAD), Coura KANE (UADB)

Lake Guiers is located in the northwest of Senegal, in the Delta region, on the left bank of the Senegal River, south of the town of Richard-Toll. With a length of 50 km and approximately 7 km wide, Lake Guiers occupies a narrow depression oriented NNE-SSW which stretches between 15°55 and 16°23 north latitude and between 16°04 and 16°16 west longitude. It is a flat lake of tectonic origin whose formation dates back to the Quaternary, around 30,000 BP.
Lake Guiers is not an independent hydrological entity; it is connected to the Senegal River by the Taoué Canal to the north; to the west it connects to the Ndiael depression
via the Nieti Yone channel while to the south it is connected to the lower Ferlo valley from which it is
separated by the Keur Momar Sarr dike.
Today, the communities bordering the lake engage in irrigated agriculture, the
rainfall being generally insufficient to ensure a harvest. Before the construction of the Diama dam (1985), the cropping system was based on the alternation of hydrological and climatological seasons (recession, rainfed crops). After Diama, the
raising and stabilization of the water level meant that the practice of recession
agriculture was impossible, making irrigation almost obligatory. Farmers mainly practice market gardening, unlike the rest of the delta where rice cultivation predominates.
Fishing is often practiced as a secondary activity while livestock breeding is decadent
for lack of space (colonization of livestock corridors).
Lake Guiers constitutes the main surface fresh water reserve of Senegal. His
éEvolution has always been very dependent on that of the Senegal River. It serves as a reserve
of fresh water for the irrigated crops installed around its perimeter and especially for the drinking water supply
of the Dakar urban area and other secondary towns in Senegal, up to 60% (or more). The water is pumped and treated on site at the Ngnith and
Keur Momar Sarr plants, then transported by penstock over 240 km to Dakar. With the
"Touba, xepp ndox mou neex" project, the waters of Lake Guiers should supply the religious town of Touba located 194 km from Dakar.
The paradox of Lake Guiers is that alongside the drinking water plants supplying Dakar and other secondary towns by penstock, the local communities do not have a water supply network. drinkable. Very often, these communities
get their supplies either directly from the lake or through drilling networks managed by
delegated companies with a price per m3 of water well above that of water in
urban agglomerations. This poses a problem of inequality and equity between urban and
rural residents, the first protests of which are beginning to emerge around the lake and elsewhere in
Senegal. These “quiet mobilizations”, mentioned by Tall (2021), are just the echo of a
feeling of inequality and exclusion that has persisted for years in this region.
Keywords: Lake Guiers, drinking water, inequality, inequity, rural areas

Mapping normative flows: for dynamic reinforcement through water
of protections for local communities in the Americas
Adriana Daza Camacho and François-Xavier Saluden

Summary:

The extension of the scope of application of the norms of national and international law on human rights and the environment, as well as the emergence of norms based on a bio-cultural paradigm, reveals a vector normative dynamic.
This evolution makes it possible to identify growing anchors in the material dimensions of human life, in particular within local or animist communities. Their joint and comparative analysis between three distinct systems,
Colombia, Canada and the inter-American system, allows us to better understand the
basic movements as well as the local specificities.ales, en vue d’une protection plus
prévisible et holistique.

[Intervention in French] The expansion of the scope of application of national and
international human rights and environmental law, as well as the emergence of norms
grounded in a biocultural paradigm, points to a dynamic shift in normative
frameworks. This observation also allows us to identify how these norms are
increasingly rooted in a growing number of material aspects of human life, particularly
within local or animist communities. A joint and comparative analysis of three distinct
systems, Colombia, Canada and the Inter-American system, enables us to map
underlying trends and local specificities, paving the way for more predictable and
holistic protection.