Project Update
Shared water, shared security: OSCE highlights practical pathways for transboundary water co-operation at World Water Week 2026
- Issued on:
- Issued by:
- Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities
- Fields of work:
- Environmental activities
The value of transboundary water co-operation extends far beyond the management of a shared natural resource. By creating practical and inclusive channels for dialogue, strengthening institutions, and enabling countries to address common risks together, transboundary water co-operation can contribute to resilience, confidence-building and security across borders, while ensuring that water management remains people-centred and responsive to the needs of all.
This message was at the centre of the OSCE session “Shared Water. Shared Security. A People-Centered Approach in Water Co-operation”, held during World Water Week 2026 in Stockholm and online.
Bringing together perspectives from the Dniester River Basin, Central Asia, international organizations and water professionals, the discussion examined how inclusive, science-based and people-centred water governance can respond to growing environmental and climate pressures while delivering benefits for communities, ecosystems and regional stability.
The session also demonstrated the value of connecting practical experience from across the OSCE region with wider international water discussions — ensuring that lessons from transboundary co-operation contribute to global processes while international knowledge, partnerships and approaches inform and strengthen action at the national level.
Four main points emerged from the discussion:
- Water co-operation should be understood not only as a development objective, but also as an investment in resilience and preventive security.
- Effective water co-operation requires strong partnerships at both the national and international levels.
- Science, data and technology should be placed at the service of co-operation.
- Co-operation must be inclusive and gender-responsive.
Co-operation over water as a contribution to security
Water challenges rarely exist in isolation. Climate change, pollution, ecosystem degradation and competing demands for natural resources can have implications for livelihoods, economic resilience and communities' well being, while exacerbating pressures on co-operation and stability across borders.
In shared basins, addressing these challenges requires sustained co-operation at the transboundary level. The discussion highlighted how continued dialogue, effective institutions, scientific evidence and regular exchange of information can strengthen a shared understanding of potential risks and help riparian countries develop co-ordinated responses.
This reflects the OSCE’s comprehensive and co-operative approach to security: environmental challenges can have consequences that extend far beyond the sphere of environmental governance, while co-operation around shared resources can create opportunities to strengthen confidence, resilience and relations between States and across communities.
“At the policy level, it is critical to bring water issues to the attention of diplomats of the 57 OSCE participating States and raise them as a security concern. This is the DNA of the Organization. In many of our mandated events, the topic of transboundary water management and water diplomacy is very often at the top of the agenda, with the aim of enhancing dialogue and co-operative approaches contributing to strengthening good-neighbourly relations and eventually regional security.”
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The Dniester: long-term co-operation in practice
Experience from the Dniester River Basin, shared by the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, provided a concrete example of how sustained transboundary co-operation can be translated into practical action.
The experience of co-operation in the basin highlights the importance of maintaining institutional and technical dialogue, grounding decisions in scientific evidence and developing common approaches to challenges that affect the river, its ecosystems, and the communities that depend on it.
At World Water Week, experience from the Dniester helped illustrate how regional commitments can be translated into practical measures. These efforts aim to strengthen Moldovan-Ukrainian co-operation through the Dniester River Basin Commission; improve legal and regulatory frameworks; improve the ecological status of the river basin and reduce pollution; strengthen climate adaptation and disaster preparedness; expand public awareness and participation; and improve research, monitoring and data exchange for evidence-based decision-making.
Activities in the project “Advancing transboundary co-operation and Integrated Water Resources Management in the Dniester River Basin through implementation of the Strategic Action Programme” are translating measures into action, by supporting the implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the Dniester River Basin endorsed by both countries. The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) serving as the implementing agency, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) as the executing agency, and support from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
“The Dniester is not just a transboundary river. It is a source of drinking water, a resource for agriculture, a basis for local communities, and a shared ecosystem that supports millions of people in Ukraine and Moldova. That is why, for us, water security is, first of all, human security.”
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Putting people at the centre of water governance
Effective water governance depends not only on policies and institutions, but also on the people who manage, use and depend on shared water resources.
The session therefore placed particular emphasis on people-centred approaches, including the meaningful participation of women water professionals, young experts, and community representatives. These actors contribute significant knowledge and experience to water management and transboundary co-operation, yet remain under-represented in many formal decision-making processes. Strengthening their participation can broaden the perspectives informing decisions, improve governance outcomes and help build stronger relationships among institutions, professionals and communities.
Experiences from Central Asia complemented lessons from the Dniester River Basin, highlighting how women water professionals, professional networks and community leaders can serve as agents of change and contribute not only to stronger governance and regional co-operation, but also to global policy dialogue. By bringing practical experience, locally grounded knowledge and diverse perspectives into international discussions, these actors can help shape more inclusive, responsive and effective approaches to water governance at the global level.
“This network brings together people with professional expertise in water, from researchers, engineers and hydrologists to government officials and basin specialists, and creates opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge and relationships needed for water diplomacy. Over the years, the OSCE has supported mentoring and career development, provided training on gender-sensitive water management, facilitated regional exchanges, and more recently strengthened skills in negotiation and participation in international water-policy processes. The focus now goes beyond capacity building: it is about increasing women’s meaningful participation in water resources management, negotiations, conflict prevention and high-level decision-making on transboundary water issues. That distinction is important. We are moving from building capacity to enabling women to participate in the processes where co-operation is actually shaped.”
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From international dialogue to regional action
World Water Week 2026 is held under the theme “Water for People and Progress”. The OSCE session contributed to this wider discussion by showing how global ambitions around water can connect with practical experience from countries, river basins, and communities. Building on these efforts, the OSCE will continue contributing to international water processes, including the UN Water Conference in December 2026, while connecting global dialogue with practical water co-operation and security needs across its participating States.
“As Switzerland chairs the OSCE in 2026 and contributes to the global water agenda through the Water for People dialogue at the UN Water Conference, we have a unique opportunity to bring these perspectives together: security and development, science and diplomacy, anticipation and action, equality and inclusion. In an increasingly uncertain world, shared water can build shared resilience; shared resilience can strengthen shared security; and shared security can lay the foundations for lasting peace.”
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World Water Week 2026 continues through 27 August, offering further opportunities to follow international discussions on water governance, diplomacy, climate resilience and sustainable development online.
For more information visit https://worldwaterweek.org/.