WMO is the lead UN agency for operational hydrology, and it plays a crucial role in supporting National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in its Member States and Territories. This year, WMO will be present at World Water Week hosting, co-organizing and contributing to several events and seminar sessions.
Accessible, clean, and safe drinking water is critical for human health, stable societies, sustainable development, and ecosystem integrity. Water is a vital resource, yet its availability and distribution pose significant challenges to peace and security. In addition, the hydrological cycle is spinning out of balance. The overwhelming majority of disasters worldwide are water-related and are becoming more frequent and intense.
World Water Week 2024: Bridging Borders for a Peaceful and Sustainable Future
World Water Week 2024 focuses on the theme "Bridging Borders: Water for a Peaceful and Sustainable Future." This theme emphasizes the need for water cooperation to ensure peace and security in its broadest sense. Water is crucial to all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet it is often overlooked in conversations about climate change, biodiversity loss, food security, and poverty. World Water Week brings together various stakeholders and offers a platform for collaboration to enhance water action.
WMO's Contributions to World Water Week 2024
This year, WMO will contribute its expertise to several events of the Conference and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) Seminar Series:
25 August:
- Shaping sustainable water futures in hosting communities of fragile and conflict-affected settings (Session ID: 11801): This session explores water insecurity and climate impacts in hosting communities, emphasizing anticipatory action and the humanitarian-development-peace nexus approach drawing on field experience to cultivate discussion on water cooperation and human security in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
- SIWI Seminar Series (1/3): Monitoring and data to support peace and security (Session ID: 12056): This session explores a wide range of data types and applications supporting good water management and governance.
26 August:
- SIWI Seminar Series (2/3): Monitoring and data to support peace and security (Session ID: 12057): This session will emphasize data and data products to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration to achieve water security.
- Water: A regional public good for peace in West Africa (Session ID: 11876): Learning from decades of transboundary work in West Africa, this session will bring national, regional, and international viewpoints on the role of water as a catalyst for peace, resilient livelihoods, and development.
- SIWI Seminar Series (1/3): Water security within just planetary boundaries (Session ID: 12071): This session will bring together experts to present and discuss the latest conceptual advancements, modelling techniques, and research insights regarding the safe and just Earth System Boundaries, with a specific focus on the freshwater domain.
- SIWI Seminar Series (3/3): Why didn't you warn us ahead? (Session ID: 12058): Water insecurity, floods or droughts threaten peace and security. Early warnings and early actions are key, but communication failures are often a bigger issue than forecasting. This session explores communication barriers and solutions, learning from diverse actors to make effective public warnings.
27 August:
- SIWI Seminar Series (2/3): Water security within just planetary boundaries (Session ID: 12072): This session will showcase best practices and innovative approaches in water resources monitoring and assessment to ensure water security for all within safe and just earth system boundaries for freshwater.
28 August:
- SIWI Seminar Series (3/3): Water security within just planetary boundaries (Session ID: 12073): This session will explore the role of legal instruments, reflect on the experience of various geographies, and characterize fit-for-purpose just water partnerships for water security.
- SIWI Seminar Series (3/3): Technical solutions for secure water supplies: WEFE-Nexus in Transboundary Contexts (Session ID: 12052): This session will showcase technical solutions and their integration to the WEFE Nexus and transboundary water management, share lessons learned and create a common understanding of challenges and scaling opportunities in applying WEFE Nexus technical solutions to enhance cooperation in national/cross-sectoral and cross-boundary levels.
To attend the events onsite and online, register now on the World Water Week 2024 Registration page.
WMO is the lead UN agency for operational hydrology, and it plays a crucial role in supporting National Hydrological Services in its Member States and Territories, WMO's work spans the entire hydrological value chain, from monitoring to service delivery and capacity development. Its activities include providing guidance and assistance in real-time water data collection, management, quality control, and sharing, as well as in hydrological modeling and forecasting, flood and drought early warning dissemination, and water resources assessment and decision-support services.
WMO Vision and Strategy on Hydrology
