THE WPS PARTNERS
The Water, Peace and Security (WPS) partnership is a collaboration between the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and a consortium of six partners: Stichting Deltares (Lead Partner), The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), International Alert (IA), IHE Delft, Wetlands International and the World Resources Institute (WRI).
The initiative is a network that brings together knowledge, capacities and activities directed at speeding up and scaling up preventative action in the context of water stress–induced conflict, migration or other forms of social destabilisation. To this end, the consortium collaborates with a growing number of other institutions, including Oregon State University and Clingendael.
CORE PARTNERS
Deltares which leads the partnership, is a leading (not-for-profit) applied research institute in the field of water and subsurface resources. Based in the Netherlands and operating around the world, Deltares works on innovative solutions and applications for people, environment and society. More than 900 Deltares specialists have expertise in the policy, science and engineering disciplines to address sustainability issues. Deltares has a wide network of international cooperation, both with governments and private organisations. Deltares works with major knowledge institutes around the world, and at the same time is involved in many social responsibility projects, particularly for major international financial organisations, like the World Bank.
The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) is a knowledge institute that conducts research on geopolitical, defence and security issues. Through its Climate, Water and Food Security Programme, HCSS translates this expertise into practical insights on how climate- and resource related stresses interact with instability and conflict. Its dedicated DataLab develops and curates new datasets, designs tailored analytical frameworks, and builds secure, automated, and interactive web applications. HCSS combines qualitative and quantitative methods, including advanced statistics, causal modelling and generative AI, using both structural and unstructured data sources to inform water-related interventions and conflict analysis. These capabilities are reinforced by a global network of partners and more than 50 affiliated experts who complement the core team in The Hague. Covering all major regions, this network provides region-specific and local expertise that strengthens the depth, relevance, and validity of HCSS’s work
IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (IHE Delft) is the largest international graduate water education institution in the world, and is based in Delft, the Netherlands. At IHE, over 200 academic staff focus on education, research and capacity development in the broad fields of hydrology, water engineering, water and environmental management, governance and water conflict, and cooperation. IHE has a large network of international connections with UN organizations, national governments, (educational) institutes and a network of more than 25.000 alumni spread around the globe.
World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research organization that spans more than 60 countries, with international offices in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States, regional offices in Ethiopia and Kenya (for Africa) and the Netherlands (for Europe), and program offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom. WRI’s more than 2.000 experts and staff turn big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity and human well-being. WRI's mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth's environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. It works towards practical solutions and global impact based on rigorous analysis and long-term engagement with decision-makers from governments, corporations, city governments and communities. WRI has become a leader in the use of new technologies and big data, expanding the ‘do tank’ side of its work to ensure better impact from its traditional ‘think tank’ role.
Wetlands International is a locally-led, global NGO dedicated to the protection, restoration and sustainable use of wetlands for people, nature and climate. Central is the vision of wetlands as dynamic systems that comprise 40% of the world’s biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services to society and economy including water, food security and climate adaptation. Operating from 19 independent national offices in more than 25 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, Wetlands International takes an integrated, solution-oriented approach combining locally-led on the ground work with scientific and practical knowledge, high-tech tools, policy advise and leveraging systems change. As an international network, Wetlands International has a 30-year track record working with all actors and sectors: Indigenous Peoples & local communities, governments, business and finance in some of the most water-stressed parts of the world including Sahel, West-Africa, Horn of Africa, and Middle East.
International Alert is an international peacebuilding organisation with its headquarters in London. It also maintains a continental European office in The Hague, the Netherlands, in addition to offices in 15 other countries around the world. Approximately 200 experts and staff work on programmes to build positive peace and reduce violence, working across conflict lines and with all parties to the conflict. Alert’s peacebuilding programming works in three main ways: dialogue, influencing and partnerships underpinned by research and analysis to identify the root causes of violence and long-term solutions to conflict. Central to Alert’s peacebuilding work is championing gender- and conflict-sensitive approaches to work in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. This approach is mainstreamed across all of Alert’s work and also central to its efforts with external stakeholders at the project, strategy and policy levels.
COLLABORATING PARTNERS
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) is a German-based state funded service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment promotion, energy and the environment, peace and security and international education work. GIZ’s main commissioning party is the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) but is also commissioned by the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations, the private sector, and governments of other countries.
GIZ and WPS cooperate on the Frexus-project in the Sahel region. The Frexus project, commissioned by the EU and BMZ, aims to improve security and climate resilience in fragile contexts through the water-energy-food Nexus. Read more about the Frexus project.