Date: 25 May 2026
Time: 15:00\u201317:00
Location: Serena Hotel, Rudaki Street 14, Dushanbe, Tajikistan. And online.<\/p>\n
If you wish to join us at Serena Hotel please contact us at siwi@siwi.org.<\/p>\n
Seats are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.<\/p>\n
Co-convened by SIWI and the Government of the Netherlands<\/p>\n
About the event<\/p>\n
The global hydrological cycle is becoming increasingly disrupted by climate change, land degradation, ecosystem loss, and unsustainable water management. At the same time, governance systems often continue to treat water, land, ecosystems, agriculture, and climate separately, despite being deeply interconnected.<\/p>\n
This side event at the 4th High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action \u201cWater for Sustainable Development, 2018\u20132028\u201d will explore what it means in practice to govern water as a system across the full hydrological cycle.<\/p>\n
The discussion will focus on the growing recognition that strengthening resilience to droughts, floods, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, and climate-related shocks requires governance approaches that integrate blue water, green water, cryospheric water, ecosystems, soils, and land use.<\/p>\n
Particular attention will be given to green water \u2014 the moisture stored in soils, vegetation, and the atmosphere \u2014 which remains largely absent from many policy and governance frameworks despite playing a critical role in climate resilience, agriculture, ecosystems, and hydrological stability.<\/p>\n
The event will bring together representatives from governments, international organizations, finance institutions, regional actors, and policy experts to share practical experiences, emerging approaches, and lessons learned from integrated water governance efforts across sectors and scales.<\/p>\n
The session will also contribute to broader discussions leading towards the 2026 UN Water Conference and ongoing efforts to strengthen water governance within climate, development, and resilience agendas.<\/p>\n
Objectives<\/p>\n
The event aims to:<\/p>\n
\u00a0build a shared understanding of what governing water across land, ecosystems, and water institutions means in practice
\nexplore practical approaches to integrated hydrological cycle governance through country and basin-level experiences
\nidentify lessons learned, challenges, and enabling conditions for systems-level governance
\ncontribute actionable messages and next steps to inform global water governance discussions ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference<\/p>\n
Speakers and participants<\/p>\n
Opening remarks:<\/p>\n
Meike van Ginneken, Water Envoy, Government of the Netherlands
\nSharifa Khudobakhsh, Deputy Minister of Energy and Water Resources, Republic of Tajikistan<\/p>\n
Presentations:<\/p>\n
James Leten, SIWI
\nHenk Ovink, Global Commission on the Economics of Water<\/p>\n
Panel discussion participants include representatives from:<\/p>\n
Government of Japan
\nEuropean Union
\nWorld Bank (tbc)
\nRegional basin organizations<\/p>\n
Registration<\/p>\n
Participation in the side event is open to conference participants. Please e-mail: siwi@siwi.org<\/p>\n