The workshop is jointly organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the National Water Commission of Mexico (CONAGUA), in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico (SEMARNAT), the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Ibero-American Water Directors Conference (CODIA), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The workshop is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and other donors. It is organized as a follow up of the workshop "Latin American and Pan-European Regions: Sharing Experiences and Learning from Each Other", which took place in June 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The workshop aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the principles of transboundary water cooperation, through the examination of relevant good practices and existing regional and global instruments. In particular participants will discuss the benefits and challenges associated with international legal instruments such as the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (Watercourses Convention). Moreover, the workshop will illustrate concrete experiences from bilateral and multilateral cooperation on transboundary water.
Participants from Latin America will greatly benefit from this forum, in particular from sharing knowledge and best practices in the field of transboundary water cooperation. The workshop will provide the opportunity to discuss such topics as the legal and institutional aspects of transboundary water cooperation, building trust for cooperation by assessing its benefits, data exchange and adaptation to climate variability and change.
This exchange is particularly timely in light of the recent entry into force of the Watercourses Convention and the global opening of the Water Convention. Some Latin American countries have expressed their interest in the Water Convention and many have participated in its activities. One of the objectives of the workshop is to generate ideas on the future involvement of Latin American countries in the activities under the Water Convention and on the use of its tools. The workshop will also discuss the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 and in particular of its target 6.5 on integrated water resources management and transboundary cooperation.