Implementation Committee

The objective of the mechanism is to facilitate, promote and safeguard the implementation and application and compliance with the Water Convention. The mechanism is to be simple, non-confrontational, non-adversarial, transparent, supportive and cooperative in nature, building on the distinctive collaborative spirit of the Convention.

The Implementation Committee consists of nine members, who serve in their personal capacity, objectively and in the best interest of the Convention. The Committee is currently composed of the following members: Mahdi Ahmad, Gabriel de los Cobos, Maria Gwynn, Jovanka Ignjatovic, Makane Moïse Mbengue, Martins Paparinskis, Pedro Cunha Serra, Cyrille Vallet and Dinara Ziganshina (see short bios below).

Who can contact the Implementation Committee

The Committee is equipped with a unique advisory procedure.

Any Party to the Convention may request advice from the Committee about its difficulties in implementing the Convention (see decision VI/1, annex I, section V).

A Party, or Parties jointly, may request advice from the Committee about its or their efforts to implement or apply the Convention vis-à-vis each other, other Parties and/or non-Parties (see decision VI/1, annex I, section V).

A submission may be brought before the Committee by a Party that concludes that, despite its best endeavours, it is or will be unable to comply fully with the Convention (see decision VI/1, annex I, section VI).

A submission may be brought before the Committee by a Party(-ties) that is(are) affected or may be affected by another Party’s difficulties in implementing and/or complying with the Convention (see decision VI/1, annex I, section VI).

The Committee can also undertake a Committee initiative. Where the Committee becomes aware of possible difficulties in the implementation by a Party of or the possible non-compliance by a Party with the Convention, including from information received from the public, it may request the Party concerned to provide the necessary information on the matter. The Committee shall then consider the matter as soon as possible in the light of any reply that the Party may provide (see decision VI/1, annex I, section VII).

In other words, any actor (including members of the public) who has concerns about environmental degradation, ecosystems, health or wellbeing of local communities that derives from the conditions of, or activities at, transboundary waters, can provide the Committee with relevant information. The Committee will then consider the information received and may take action in accordance with its mandate.

In addition, the Committee may examine, at the request of the Meeting of the Parties, specific issues of implementation of and compliance with the Convention and carry out any other functions that may be assigned to it by the Meeting of the Parties.

In order to perform its functions, the Committee may undertake information gathering and consultations  (see decision VI/1, annex I, section VIII). It may request information on matters under its consideration, invite the Parties and non-Parties concerned to attend its meetings, seek the services of experts, etc. The Committee shall take into account all relevant information made available to it, including from the public.

How to contact the Implementation Committee

The Implementation Committee can be contacted by email through the Convention’s secretariat at water.convention(at)un.org. Please clearly indicate that the correspondence is intended for the Implementation Committee.

List of Meetings

Seventeenth meeting (7-8 March 2024, Campione d'Italia, Italy)

Sixteenth meeting (11-12 December 2023, Geneva, Switzerland)

Fifteenth meeting (16-17 February 2023, Geneva, Switzerland)

Fourteenth meeting (24-25 February 2022, Geneva, Switzerland)

Thirteenth meeting (20-21 May 2021, Geneva, Switzerland)

Twelfth meeting (4-5 February 2021, Geneva, Switzerland)

Preparatory meeting for the twelfth meeting of the Implementation Committee (24 November 2020 by videoconference)

Eleventh meeting (31 August - 2 September 2020, Geneva, Switzerland)

Preparatory meeting for the eleventh meeting (19 May 2020 by videoconference)

Tenth meeting (2-3 December 2019, Geneva, Switzerland)

Ninth meeting (7-9 March 2018, Geneva, Switzerland)

Eighth meeting (23-24 May 2017, Haparanda, Sweden)

Seventh meeting (1-2 December 2016, Budapest, Hungary)

Sixth meeting (3-4 May 2016, Geneva, Switzerland)

Fifth meeting (5-6 May 2015, Vienna, Austria)

Fourth meeting (4 December 2014, London, United Kingdom)

Third meeting (15 May 2014, Bologna, Italy)

Second meeting (12 December 2013, Geneva, Switzerland)

First meeting (5 June 2013, Geneva, Switzerland)

Material and documents

Committee’s report to the tenth session of the Meeting of the Parties

Presentation on the Implementation Committee by the Committee members (Eng, Fre)

Video recordings of interviews with Committee members, for example on upstream and downstream State relations, dispute settlement under the Water Convention and (in Russian) the role of the Implementation Committee for Central Asia.

Video recording of The Implementation Committee of the Water Convention (online conference).

Committee members

Implementation Committee 2024–2027

Short biographies of the Committee members

Mahdi Ahmad is the Managing Director of Iraq’s Thirst Project, a member of the Board of Directors of the Bahr Alolom Foundation in Iraq, a member of both the Environment & Climate Change Policy Advisory Group and the UN Water Taskforce in Iraq, and a member of Iraq Energy Academy in Baghdad. He has extensive experience in water resource management, climate change policy, and regional diplomacy. He has led regional meetings with Türkiye, Iran, and Syria on issues related to water, climate change, and Iraq’s marshlands, particularly the Hawizeh Marsh, through Track 1.5 diplomacy. He actively collaborates with the Government of Iraq, the Council of Representatives, NGOs, and the international community, including UN agencies, to organize workshops, develop recommendations, and implement actions to address climate change, water scarcity, irrigation, and renewable energy. Dr. Mahdi Ahmad is a strong advocate for education and policy development to tackle water and environmental challenges. His efforts focus on fostering partnerships across academic, governmental, and non-governmental sectors. Additionally, he leads the research department at Al Alamein Institute of Higher Education in Iraq and holds an academic background in physics and politics, with his researches concentrating on public policies related to natural resources in Iraq and the region.

Gabriel de los Cobos qualified as a geologist and hydrogeologist at the Universities of Geneva and Neuchâtel, with a doctorate (PhD) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL). He has been involved in research and teaching and has worked in the private sector as well as on humanitarian issues (UNHCR), mainly in Africa. He has been a hydrogeologist for the canton of Geneva since 1998 and since 2008 he was the head of the Geology and Groundwater section in the Service of Geology, Soils and Waste of the State of Geneva (GESDEC). As such, he has also been a member of the Transboundary Committee for Genevese Groundwater Management. He has contributed to several international papers on the Managing Aquifer Recharge (MAR) matters as on the transboundary aquifers issues. Since March 2024, Gabriel is retired but he is still involved in the newest project of a new agreement between Geneva and the French communities for the Genevese shared aquifer.

Maria A. Gwynn is an international lawyer and arbitrator. She is a Senior Fellow at the International Law Institute, University of Bonn, where she lectures on International Water Law and International Institutions of Water and Energy. She was a Governing Council Member of ITAIPU from 2019 to 2023, one of the largest producers of hydropower in the world. She is the International Association for Water Law (AIDA) Chair for Water Partnerships and representative to the UN-Water, as well as a member of the Global Network of Women in Water Diplomacy, and an International Hydropower Association (IHA) Fellow. From 2016 to 2018, she was a Global Leaders Fellow at the Universities of Oxford and Princeton. She acts as an expert adviser to many key stakeholders and international and regional organizations on matters relating to transboundary water cooperation, energy, climate change, and sustainable development. 

Jovanka Ignjatovic has a background in water management and environmental engineering with over 30 years of professional experience in institutional development within and with governmental administration in the Western Balkan, South-Eastern Europe and MENA region. She possesses substantial expertise in managing projects related to transposition, implementation and enforcement of the EU environmental acquis. She served as Head of Water and Natural Resources Unit at the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) (2006-2018), Head of Department of the International Cooperation in Water Sector at the Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Directorate for Water (2005-2006), Head of Division of the Strategic Development and Protection of Environmental Media within the Ministry for Science and Environment, Directorate for the Environmental Protection (2003-2005) and Head of Department of the Water Quality Analysis and Modelling and Early Warning System of the Hydrometeorological Institute (2000-2003) of the Republic of Serbia. Since 2000 she has been a member of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) Expert Groups, coordinating national activities of the Monitoring and Assessment (MA EG) and Accident Prevention and Control (APC EG) in 2000–2006.

Makane Moïse Mbengue is Professor of International Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva and Director of the Department of International Law and International Organization. He is also an Affiliate Professor at Sciences Po Paris (School of Law). He is a Member of the Curatorium of The Hague Academy of International Law and an Associate Member of the Institut de droit international. He has acted and acts as expert on international water law issues for the African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank and several river basin organisations in Africa. He also acts as counsel and arbitrator in disputes before international courts and tribunals.

Martins Paparinskis is Professor of Public International Law at University College London. He is a member of the International Law Commission, and has been its Chairperson of Drafting Committee and First Vice-Chair. He has also appeared before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the International Court of Justice. 

Pedro Cunha Serra is an expert on hydraulics and water resources planning and management and is working as a consultant to Governments and international organisations on transboundary river basin issues. He is member of the Portuguese-Spanish Transboundary Water Commission since 1994 and was in the past the Portuguese Water Director (1994-1999) - at that moment the EU water framework directive was being drafted and the Portuguese-Spanish transboundary rivers Albufeira Convention was being negotiated (he was a member of the negotiations team). As advisor to the parties he worked with the Mozambican government on the drafting and negotiation of the Incomaputo Convention. More recently he has provided advice to the Government of Angola on the Cunene river Convention and to OSCE on the Dniester river.

Cyrille Vallet has accrued more than 18 years of experience as a water engineer and researcher. He has led projects pertaining to the provision of drinking water, the management of wastewater, the mitigation of floods, and the integrated management of water resources. In the course of these projects, he has confronted a range of technical issues and institutional and governance challenges. Many activities have been conducted with a transboundary perspective, including in Romania, Kosovo*, Moldova, and France. He has contributed to the implementation of the EU Water Directives and the 1992 Water Convention. Additionally, he has been involved in projects in various other countries, including Colombia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. He has also gained experience with loans or grants from international financing institutions. He is currently engaged in research at the University of Geneva and ENS-Lyon on the legal personhood of transboundary rivers. (*All references to Kosovo should be understood to be in the context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).)

Dinara Ziganshina  holds a L.L.M. from the University of Oregon and a PhD in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from the IHP-Help Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science under the auspices of UNESCO, University of Dundee. She is a Director of the Scientific Information Center of Interstate Commission for Water Coordination in Central Asia (SIC ICWC), where she worked since 2012. She has extensive experience as a legal expert in water resources management at national and transboundary levels as well as academic research and teaching experience in the fields of water law, management and policy, international environmental law and policy, human rights and environmental conflict resolution.

Implementation Committee 2021-2024

Jovanka Ignjatovic, Kari Kinnunen, Stephen McCaffrey, Makane Moïse Mbengue, Martins Paparinskis, Pedro Cunha Serra, Attila Tanzi (Chair), Ivan Zavadsky, and Dinara Ziganshina (Vice-Chair)
 

Implementation Committee 2018-2021

Kari Kinnunen (Vice-Chair), Johan G. Lammers, Stephen McCaffrey, Martins Paparinskis, Anne Schulte-Wülwer-Leidig, Pedro Cunha Serra, Attila Tanzi (Chair), Ivan Zavadsky and Dinara Ziganshina (Vice-Chair)

Implementation Committee 2015-2018

Vanya Grigorova (Vice-Chair), Kari Kinnunen, Johan G. Lammers, Stephen McCaffrey, Anne Schulte-Wülwer-Leidig, Aliaksandr Stankevich, Attila Tanzi (Chair), Ivan Zavadsky and Dinara Ziganshina
 

Implementation Committee 2012-2015

Attila Tanzi (Chair), Saghit Ibatullin (Vice-Chair), Vanya Grigorova, Kari Kinnunen, Johan G. Lammers, Stephen McCaffrey, Anne Schulte-Wülwer-Leidig, Aliaksandr Stankevich and Ivan Zavadsky