Water Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean

Project name :

Water Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean

Project duration :

01-01-2014

Location :

UNESCO Montevideo Office, Luis Piera 1992, 2nd floor, 11200, Montevideo, Uruguay
Contributing to awareness-raising, capacity development and decision making for water governance across the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme in Latin America and the Caribbean (IHP-LAC)

IHP Phases

© UNESCO

IHP has been implemented in eight sequential phases since 1975, thus confirming that an understanding of the hydrological scientific and quantitative bases is vital for sustainable water resource management. The above is particularly challenging in arid and glacial areas, in a framework embracing both economic and social integration.

Phase I (1975-1980)

Phase II (1981-1983): Practical aspects of hydrology and water resources, focusing on the hydrology and scientific bases for the rational water resource management

Phase III (1984-1989): Practical aspects of hydrology and water resources, focusing on hydrology and the scientific bases for the rational water resources management.

Phase IV (1990-1995): Hydrology and Water Resources for Sustainable Development in a Changing Environment.

Phase V (1996-2001): Hydrology and Water Resource Development in a Vulnerable Environment

Phase VI (2002-2007): Water Interactions: Systems at Risk and Social Challenges

Phase VII (2008-2013): Water Dependencies: Systems under Stress and Societal Responses

Phase VIII (2014-2021): “"Water security: responses to local, regional and global challenges"”:

Phase IX (2022-2029): Science for a Water Secure World in a Changing Environment

Water is key to life. The capacity to access this resource and to efficiently protect life and assets against water-related threats, such as floods, droughts, runoff, land subsidence and other hydrological impacts (known as water security), is a growing concern given the demographic growth, uncontrolled urban development, dramatic changes in land use and degradation of water quality.

During Phase IX, IHP emphasises water security in response to local, regional and global challenges. The main issues raised are as follows:

  • Water-related Disasters and Hydrological Changes.
  • Groundwater in a Changing Environment
  • Addressing Water Scarcity and Water Quality
  • Water and Human Settlements in the Future
  • Ecohydrology: Harmony for a Sustainable World
  • Water Education: Key to Water Security