UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education

The process to establish the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education was concluded by a decision of the 31st General Conference of UNESCO in November 2001. On 18 March 2003, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, representatives of the Netherlands Government, of the former national structure - the IHE Delft - and of its funding arm, the Foundation, joined the UNESCO DG, Koichiro Matsuura and other senior Secretariat officials to put their signatures to a set of agreements by which the newly-created UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education (UNESCO-IHE) will come into operation. UNESCO-IHE visions a world in which people manage their water and environmental resources in a sustainable manner, and in which all sectors of society, particularly the poor, can enjoy the benefits of basic services. The mandate given by UNESCO to IHE is to:strengthen and mobilise the global educational and knowledge base for integrated water resources management; and contribute to meeting the water-related capacity building needs of the developing countries and countries in transition. Within this mandate the mission is defined as follows:
The mission of the Institute is to contribute to the education and training of professionals and to build the capacity of sector organisations, knowledge centres and other institutions active in the fields of water, the environment and infrastructure, in developing countries and countries in transition.

Previous Profile: Established in 1957, the International Institute for Infrastructural Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering (IHE) was dedicated to scientific research, postgraduate education, training and capacity building in the fields of water, environment and infrastructure.  The Institute is a globally active "partner in action", through solution-oriented approaches. IHE's mission is to become the pre-eminent global networking centre with its partners in all major regions of the developing world for the research into and dissemination of all aspects water, the environment and physical infrastructure. IHE will facilitate professionals and institutions in their efforts to find and apply sustainable solutions for 85% of the population living in low and middle-income countries. IHE is committed to facilitating the growth of its regional partners with equal and complementary skills but each with a different focus that can add to the overall knowledge base of the network. The networking support to the regional partners in the global network will deliver combined research, education and consultancy activities through state of the art science and engineering combined with community and customer centred developmental awareness supported through international networking of the partners, including IHEs alumni and professional associations.

The Institute executes the following functions: Functioning as an international standard-setting body for postgraduate water education programmes and continuing professional training; Building human and institutional capacities through education, training and research; Setting up and managing networks of educational and water sector institutions and organisations world-wide; Functioning as a 'policy forum' for UNESCO Member States and other stakeholders; and Exercising an advisory function on water education to partner organisations and other members of the UN water family.

UNESCO-IHE is instrumental to the strengthening of efforts by other universities and research centres in increasing knowledge and skills of professionals working in the water sector. The 190 Member States of UNESCO will have access to the knowledge and services of UNESCO-IHE in human and institutional capacity-building, which is vital to their efforts in the achievement of Millennium Development Goals, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and other global water objectives. UNESCO and UNESCO-IHE share the same goals in the field of water education, as a “unity of purpose” reinforces and complements both organisations. The establishment of the Institute advances UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP) in the implementation of its international policy on water science and education; and will be instrumental in providing the human capacity-building component of the UN World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) hosted by UNESCO and inputs to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).

UNESCO-IHE provides services to a variety of target groups in developing countries and countries in transition, listed below by functional area:
Education, Training and Research: water sector professionals, engineers, scientists, consultants and decision-makers working in the water, environment and infrastructure sectors. Water Sector Capacity Building: water sector ministries and departments, municipalities, water boards and water utilities, universities, training and research institutes, industries, non-governmental and private sector organisations. Partnership Building and Networking: knowledge centres, public and private sector organisations. Standard Setting for Education and Training: water-related academe, universities and other education and training agencies in the water sector. Policy Forum on Water: UNESCO member states and other stakeholders.