Championing the use of Water for Peace from Geneva

Geneva is the world’s leading hub for water diplomacy. The question is how to leverage everything else the city offers so that water diplomacy goes to global scale. This panel will explore how the city’s unique ecosystem of diplomatic, humanitarian, development, legal, scientific, and security actors can place water at the center of international cooperation at a moment when water scarcity, climate disruption, armed conflict, and geopolitical fragmentation are colliding with unprecedented intensity. 

In line with the 2026 Geneva Peace Forum theme, Choose Peace, the session will examine how water can serve not merely as a source of risk, but as a strategic entry point for development, dialogue, cooperation, prevention, and trust-building in deeply divided and fragile contexts. The panel brings the UN together with local government, and both with regional initiatives in West Africa and seasoned Geneva actors. 

Together, the Senegal River Basin Development Authority (OMVS), the Office Cantonal de l’Eau, Geneva Call, the UNECE Secretariat of the Water Convention and the Geneva Water Hub will highlight how water can be used to solve political issues and how politics can be used to solve water issues. Particular attention will be given to the growing convergence between SDG 6 on water and SDG 16 on peace, justice, and inclusive institutions. Looking ahead to the 2026 UN Water Conference, the panel will ask what it would take for Geneva not simply to host conversations on water and peace, but to become the global engine that drives them forward.