Launch of Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace

Nov 16, 2015 | Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace
Geneva, Switzerland
View Original

Sustainable water resources management is one of the global challenges of the 21st century. Water issues are a growing cause of social, economic and political instability, with significant impact on security and peace in the world. In its 2015 Global Risks report, the World Economic Forum has ranked water as the top global risk.

Despite the complexity of the challenges, water can be transformed from a source of potential crisis into an instrument of peace. It is with this positive vision that Switzerland is engaged in global water issues in partnership with UN organizations, bilateral partners and NGOs, to help prevent water conflicts at an early stage and to promote water as an instrument of peace and cooperation.

Broad consultations with political leaders, diplomats and water experts have shown the need for a high-level political debate on how to prevent water conflicts. For this reason, Switzerland is pleased to launch, together with about fifteen co-convening countries, the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace. This Panel will be set for a maximum duration of two years. The Panel seeks to develop a set of proposals aiming to strengthen the global architecture to prevent and resolve water-related conflicts, to facilitate the use of water for building peace, and to put water relations at the center of government policy worldwide.  

While the Panel will function outside the formal structure of the United Nations, it will work in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders, including the UN, taking into account already existing initiatives and organisations in the water sector. The panel will include eminent persons with political experience from national authorities and/or from civil society, academia, international organisations and/or private sector. The Geneva Water Hub will act as the Panel’s Secretariat.  

The Global High-Level Panel will be launched by co-convening countries at ministerial level in Geneva on November 16, 2015 from 0900-1100. Venue is the Main Conference Hall of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) which is located on the northern side of the Place des Nations in Geneva. See map here: www.wipo.int/tools/en/contacts/map.jsp

The launch event shall start with opening remarks by Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, the director of the United Nations Office in Geneva (to be confirmed) and the Chair of UN-Water, followed by interventions by co-convening countries on their vision for the Panel. During the event, international renowned musician Mich Gerber who is also one of the Ferrymen on the Aare River will begin creating the so-called “water for peace symphony”. This artwork will be step by step co-created by different musicians of the world in parallel of the work done by the High Level Panel and shall be finalised for the presentation of the Panel's results.