Integrating women’s voices in international water co-operation

Water is a strategic resource and an essential element in national and regional security. Water management can also bridge borders and be a powerful tool of co-operation, enhancing security, prosperity and environmental protection. Therefore, transboundary water co-operation and water diplomacy are essential tools for the OSCE, which has a long track record in water management projects, such as transboundary water co-operation, water diplomacy and good water governance.

Within the OSCE's comprehensive approach to security, promoting sustainable management of water resources ­- particularly in transboundary contexts - has always been and continues to be a priority area of the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities (OCEEA). The OCEEA aims to enhance co-operation over transboundary water resource management through promoting participation of women and increasing capacities of stakeholders and institutions and is active in a number of river basins in South East Europe, Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia, with the support from the OSCE Field Operations and in close partnership with UNECE, UNDP and other international organizations.

Women in Water Management

Women have critical roles to play, but are under-represented in political decision-making at the national and transboundary level, undermining the effectiveness of water management and holding back economic growth and sustainable development. Effective gender mainstreaming in water governance calls for staff capacity development to increase knowledge, abilities and skills.

The OSCE has been promoting active engagement of women in water management for a number of years. For example, since 2004, we have been providing assistance to Moldova and Ukraine in the Dniester River Basin, which resulted in the establishment of the Dniester River Basin Commissionin 2018, the endorsement of the Strategic Action Programme for the Dniester River Basin (2021 - 2035) and the Strategic Framework for Adaptation to Climate Change. Recently, we implemented the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project Enabling Transboundary Co-operation and Integrated Water Resources Management (between 2017 and 2021, in co-operation with UNDP and UNECE). The project featured a gender mainstreaming strategy in all activities, including collection of sex-disaggregated data. In 2019, my office also conducted a seminar-training in Kyiv on gender aspects of transboundary water management. A follow-up large-scale project in cooperation with GEF is currently being developed, and will address implementation of a programme focusing on reduction of water pollution, mitigation of climate change and strengthening Moldovan-Ukrainian co-operation in water management when it becomes possible given the current armed conflict.

Our office also provides a valuable platform for women professionals and youth, addressing water. Since 2014, the OCEEA has also fostered the incorporation of gender perspectives in water governance and the participation of women in conflict resolution and water management at all levels, in Central Asia and Afghanistan, through the implementation of a project on women, water management and conflict prevention that contributes to capacity building and promotion of knowledge on gender mainstreaming in water governance as well as empowerment of women professionals in the water sector, including guidance documents on gender mainstreaming in water governance and online e-learning courses. In the framework of this project, in September 2021, the OSCE launched the Women in Water Management Mentoring Network in Central Asia and Afghanistan, an initiative developed in partnership with the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). The Network aims to enhance cooperation in the region through supporting capacity building and knowledge sharing activities, enhancing dialogue among practitioners, fostering better integration of gender aspects in water management and empowering women water professionals in the region.

I was happy to meet with the members of the Network alongside our Secretary General in June in Dushanbe, at the High-Level International Conference on International Decade for Action 'Water for Sustainable Development', 2018-2028. The Network used this opportunity to take stock of the results achieved in the last months and to plan the next steps. I am also glad to see that women's voices were strongly reflected in the Final Declaration 'From Dushanbe 2022 to New York 2023' of the Dushanbe Water Conference. We will continue our work on the empowerment of women professional in the water sector as we approach the 2023 New York Water Conference in March.

Stockholm Water Week

An important step in this journey will be the Network's contribution to 2022 Stockholm World Water Week, the leading annual conference on global water issues, organized by SIWI since 1991. The Network members will participate in the Women in Water Diplomacy Network Forum on 27-28 August, meeting women professionals from other regions, such as the Women in Water Diplomacy Network in the Nile (initiated by SIWI in 2017), as well as young water diplomats and potential new partners to share their ideas and develop a strategic framework for a long-term sustainable engagement on the issue. During the session A Rising Tide: Shared Vision for Women in Water Diplomacy on 30 August 2022, participants will be invited to support the new Nile and Beyond Strategy and take joint action to improve gender mainstreaming in decision making in transboundary water governance. My team is also participating in the session Value of Water in Times of Armed Conflicts, which is very timely in the present context.

I hope our ongoing initiatives on strengthening women's role in water management and conflict prevention will support sustainable resilient transboundary water governance and contribute to ensuring peace and stability in the OSCE area.

For more information on OCEEA's work on water management please see:

• OSCE's work on enhancing co-operation over sustainable transboundary water resource management
• Save the Dniester river together (dniester-commission.com)
• "Women, Water Management and Conflict Prevention - Phase II"
• The Women in Water Management Mentoring Network in Central Asia and Afghanistan
• Guidance documents on Gender Mainstreaming in Water Governance for practitioners as well as online e-learning courses
• e-learning course on Water Diplomacy and Integration of Water Norms in Peacebuilding

Our Partners

Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia

Stockholm International Water Institute - Women in Water Management