New Water Leaders for Iraq- a leadership programme to foster peace in Mesopotamia

The leadership programme “New Water Leaders for Iraq” responds to the challenges water resources in Iraq are facing: a strong deficit in coordinated and integrated water resource management paired with a deficit in leadership and conflict resolution skills among decision-makers, civil servants and other stakeholders in the water sector.

The programme trains a group of 22 participants to manage future water resource projects in an integrated manner and strengthens the network among decision-makers, civil servants and other stakeholders in the water sector. In a series of six interrelated workshops, the project brings together future leaders in the water sector from civil society, academia, and the public sector to enhance their knowledge about Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and equip them with the skills they need to adopt IWRM-conform practices in their day-to-day work. Themes covered include IWRM in theory and practice, gender sensitivity in water management, preventing and fighting corruption in the water sector and managing water-related conflict, including conflicts that may arise from applying IWRM principles in institutional reforms and policymaking (which has implications for traditional power holders with entrenched interests). 

In addition to building the capacities of the targeted individuals, the leadership programme will facilitate trust-building and networking among the participants with a view to creating the nucleus of what could one day become an influential multi-stakeholder alliance pushing for more inclusive and effective water policymaking and water management in Iraq.The project follows the needs identified in our past project “Clean Tigris” and refers to the Roadmap and website developed in 2021.