Water Diplomacy and Governance in the MENA Region

Executive Summary

This report presents key takeaways from the roundtable entitled “Water Diplomacy and Governance in the MENA Region,” held on September 28-29, 2025 at the headquarters of the Middle East Council on Global Affairs (ME Council) in Doha, Qatar. The roundtable was co-organized with the Geneva Water Hub and the Blue Peace Middle East Initiative, with support from the Embassy of Switzerland in Qatar. Participants included regional and international practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and diplomatic actors with experience in peacebuilding, technical research, and institutional reform in some of the world’s most water-stressed regions. Against a backdrop of political instability and fragmented governance structures in the region, participants explored how water diplomacy can strengthen trust, support conflict prevention, and advance resilient, regionally owned governance frameworks. The discussions produced the following key takeaways:

1. Using water for effective peacebuilding requires an understanding of the complex relationships between key stakeholders and their unique socio-economic conditions.

2. There is a need for a MENA-tailored normative framework that complements international law while reflecting regional realities and power asymmetries.

3. In the absence of binding mechanisms to protect water infrastructure during conflicts, regional stakeholders must make greater efforts to safeguard these vital facilities.

4. Science should be the foundation for water diplomacy. This can take the form of joint research, data sharing, and hydropolitical mapping.

5. Multinational technical cooperation over transboundary water resources can cultivate political trust, laying the groundwork for successful negotiations.

6. Indigenous capacity, knowledge, and regional ownership of diplomatic mechanisms are prerequisites for sustainable water diplomacy.

7. Questions of sovereignty are central to negotiations on transboundary water resources. They cannot be sidestepped, but they can be addressed through functional cooperation.

8. Integrated (horizontal) planning of water, energy, food, and the environment/ecosystem together (i.e., the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem or WEFE Nexus) is a prerequisite for scalable water governance.

9. Genuinely participatory (vertical) governance must go beyond “token” consultation to achieve institutionalized co-design and real accountability.

10. Technology alone will not drive reform. Instead, robust and adaptable governance structures are needed to ensure that innovative technologies support resilient systems.

Overall, the roundtable affirmed that despite the potential for rivalry over these precious assets, transboundary water resources can act as a lever for broader cooperation, institutional resilience, and regional stability. The dialogue laid the foundation for sustained coordination, future research collaboration, and the development of a community of practice that explores actionable pathways for advancing water diplomacy and governance in the MENA region.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this report reflect the opinions shared by participating experts during the September 2025 roundtable on water diplomacy and governance, and do not represent the positions of the participants’ institutions or the organizing and co-publishing entities.