Organisers: Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx), Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, Geneva Water Hub, Geneva Environment Network, PeaceNexus Foundation
UNU-FLORES takes part in the panel “Environmental Peacebuilding in Colombia” on 4 February 2022. This session provides an interdisciplinary view of post-conflict environmental peacebuilding and how and why environmental concerns have been integrated or neglected in that process.
During the panel, Dr Serena Caucci and Mr Jairo Guzman will discuss their research entitled “A Multi-Scale Sustainability Analysis in Regions with Different Levels of Violence by an Armed Conflict”, which is based on a gap assessment with respect to climate change stress on water resources, sustainability status analysis, and water access needs analysis, providing evidence, developing development scenarios, designing a response option assessment, and enabling multi-sectoral coordination. The research highlights the key role of the Resource Nexus in the context of water and wastewater as a source of irrigation of crops with wastewater and its impacts on poverty eradication and food security in the region.
In pursuit of poverty eradication and human food security, the research involves access to water for irrigation of agricultural crops with wastewater. Focusing on the governance objectives, the project aims to contribute to the efforts to decrease poverty rates, improve the welfare of populations hit by armed conflict, achieve higher levels of sustainability in the region, enhance capacity to adapt to climate change while conserving biodiversity. The project’s main aim is to promote and support the national government objectives and SDGs.
As time and experience progress, the opportunities and challenges to successful environmental peacebuilding outcomes in Columbia become more apparent. In Colombia, there are historical inequalities distributed by regions and vulnerable communities limited to enjoying their rights and access to vital resources such as drinking water.
Colombia has a relatively high level of water resource endowment. However, the country is unable to capture and distribute these water resources because of limited infrastructure development and a lack of institutional capacity to maintain and manage these water resources appropriately.
The full conference programme can be accessed here.
The Environmental Peacebuilding Association (EnPAx) and their Geneva-based partners built momentum for the 2nd International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding through the Road to Geneva.
The Road to Geneva was an inclusive and consultative process to elevate and diversify voices in environmental peacebuilding and to learn from regional insights. It includes two prongs: On one side, it features an international programme of events on environmental peacebuilding, planned and hosted by actors worldwide. On the other side, it involves a series of flagship initiatives — developed by the Association and its partners — to showcase at the conference.
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