Whether droughts or floods – extreme water events are occurring more and more frequently, not only in the Global South but also here in Europe and Germany. IDOS' work on the global water crisis focuses on water governance, which is at the heart of many problems in the sector. Inclusive, transparent and efficient governance is requires to develop and implement water solutions, including technical and infrastructure measures. Based on this premise, the IDOS water governance team analyses problems in a variety of political contexts in order to understand how access to water resources as well as their use and management can be ecologically sustainable and socially fair. IDOS’ work lays a particular focus on the role of development cooperation in these settings.

Besides conceptual work, the water governance team focuses on policies in individual countries, such as the implementation of policy instruments (for example payments for ecosystem services and nature-based solutions in Colombia), governance approaches (such as integrated water resource management, for example in Mongolia or South Africa, and the water-energy-food nexus, for example in Jordan or Malawi) and the political aspects of the resource (e.g. in Morocco) or ecological distribution conflicts in Germany, such as on the Elbe. Furthermore, the team analyses international and global responses to the water crisis, for example to implement the 2030 Agenda or, in cooperation with UNESCO, among others, to improve global water governance. IDOS publications on water-related cooperation potential in the Middle East, on the role of global water governance for the responsible use of the resource, but also on the topic of water conflicts in mining and the rights of indigenous groups and local communities in biodiversity conservation, all contributed to this years’ focus of the World Water Day, "Water for Peace". 

We work closely with partner organizations in the above-mentioned countries, are involved in international networks and hold the spokesperson post of the Bonn Water Network. We also provide policy advice, e.g. by contributing to reports, strategy papers, guidelines and handouts, including those of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU).

On the occasion of World Water Day 2024, IDOS published the column "World Water Day 2024: Water for peace? Peace for water in Gaza!" and participated in the following events:

• 19 March: Dr. Annabelle Houdret  gave a lecture on "Conflict or cooperation? Test the water!" as part of a series of events at the University of Birmingham (online)
   
• 20 March: Dr. Ines Dombrowsky moderated the debate "Water and global cohesion - How can we resolve conflicts of use?" at the Bonn headquarters of the German Commission for UNESCO
   
• 22 March: Dr. Srinivasa Srigiri and Dr. Annabelle Houdret participated in the debate "The land-water nexus: improving science-policy interfaces to strengthen resilience". Joint session by the UNCCD Science Policy Interface (SPI) and the Bonn Water Network (BWN) at the Bonn headquarters of the UNCCD Secretariat and online
   
• 8 April: Dr. Annabelle Houdret spoke as part of the University of Hohenheim's colloquium on World Water Day on the topic of "Local water conflicts - improving governance to strengthen cooperation".