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prevention. International Water Law – as developed in two UN conventions on international
watercourses and lakes, and in a number of basin-specific agreements – offers a good
platform for such a role. Other instruments have to be developed such as an integrated
global system of water data collection, an improved set of practical measures to strengthen
inter-sectoral cooperation in both the preparation of water projects and ongoing activities,
and innovative financial instruments to strengthen transboundary water cooperation. The
Panel proposes the creation of an international Blue Fund as an innovative instrument to
advance international water cooperation.

Although current experience has reaffirmed the importance of transboundary water
cooperation as a significant instrument of international stability and peace, it is not yet
fully used in the water basins where its role is needed. This underlines the importance of
the further evolution of water diplomacy and the development of the capacity to strengthen
existing activities to leverage water for peace. Therefore, the Panel recommends the creation
of a Global Observatory for Water and Peace as an instrument of water diplomacy dedicated
to the strengthening of existing activities in knowledge management, coordination of
activities and consultations available to States and other relevant actors capable and willing
to develop international water cooperation to new levels.

The Panel hopes that people around the world will read this report and reflect on both the
tasks ahead, as well as the urgency of these tasks. We also hope that decision makers at the
UN Member States level, as well as leaders of regional organizations and the UN, will reflect
upon our recommendations and will take the appropriate actions.
Now that the work of the Panel has come to its conclusion, I wish, on behalf of all the members,
to thank the Geneva Water Hub for its support and assistance as the Secretariat. In the same
spirit, I wish to thank the Strategic Foresight Group, a think tank from Mumbai, India, for the
precious inputs in the preparation of this report, the large number of important substantive
consultations with experts worldwide and organizational assistance in the preparation of the
Panel sessions. We are grateful to the Governments of all fifteen Co-Convening Countries for
their initiative and political support. Our special thanks go to the Government of Switzerland
for the gracious hospitality provided in all the venues where the Panel conducted its meetings.

Ljubljana, 14 August 2017

Dr Danilo Türk
Chairman
Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace

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