Policy & Governance
Effective water governance is essential to achieving IWMI’s vision of a water-secure world. Around the globe and in numerous transboundary basins, countries face rising water stress, intensifying climate risks and complex institutional landscapes where policies often outpace implementation. Policies outline objectives and governance organizes the people, systems, and accountability needed to achieve them. IWMI’s Policy and Governance work – led by our flagship work under Policy Innovations – helps bridge this gap by strengthening institutional capability, improving policy coherence and supporting evidence-based decision-making in evidence-based decision-making, including the use of Artificial Intelligence.
Working across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, IWMI partners with governments, basin authorities and communities to diagnose governance challenges, design reform pathways and apply digital and analytical tools that enhance transparency, accountability and resilience. From AI-enabled planning in India to flood-risk dashboards in Addis Ababa, our work demonstrates how data, institutions and people can be better connected to deliver more sustainable, equitable and climate-resilient outcomes. IWMI also engages globally, including co-developing the Just Water Partnerships principles with WaterAid and international partners to strengthen financing and coherence across the water sector. We welcome partnerships that advance more inclusive and effective water governance at all levels.
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Related events
4th Roorkee Water Conclave
43rd UN-Water Meeting
United Nations Water Conference 2026
Latest publications on this topic
Policy alignment for climate-resilient food systems in Zambia
Examining climate fragility and building resilience: a multidimensional analysis of water, land, agrifood and community systems in the Bouregreg Basin, Morocco
Towards developing an Enabling Environment Digital Toolbox: scaling innovations using fit-for-purpose methods