World Water Week 2026: Water for people and progress
World Water Week’s 2026 theme is ‘Water for People and Progress’. The week will focus on progress towards a more just and equitable water secure future for all people and better care for our home planet, all set against the backdrop of climate change.
Start date: 23 August 2026 00:00
End date: 27 August 2026 00:00
Venue: Stockholm
Organiser: SIWI
Location: Online, Other location
World Water Week 2026 will progress towards a more just and equitable water secure future for all people and better care for our home planet, all set against the backdrop of climate change. At World Water Week we will recognize and support women’s rights and responsibilities relating to water, appreciate and learn from Indigenous science and knowledge, and share knowledge and learning between generations.
The sessions at World Water Week 2026 will discuss progress on water for people in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and look ahead to the successors to the SDGs. They will build on the work on equity at the 2023 UN Water Conference and contribute towards the work on this issue for the 2026 UN Water Conference.
Contribution from SLU to the programme
Chasing the Water - Pastoralists and Grazing
Summary
This session contributes to promoting the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 (IYRP 2026) and the Pastoralists and Water Working Group Calls for Action on blue and green water resource development in pastoral rangelands. Pastoralists and Water in Africa's drylands - new water points must serve pastoral mobility security.
Session Description
Water development continues to be an area of significant external investment - boreholes, pans, small dams, irrigation schemes - in pastoral rangeland and are typically designed without sufficient grounding in - pastoralists’ own customary water and rangeland governance systems and the functional role of mobility in maintaining rangeland health. Consequently, investments too often unintentionally fragment grazing systems, reduce mobility, accelerate rangeland degradation, and undermine pastoral livelihoods.
Programme
Welcome and short intro
Video: International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists
Presentations
- Governance: Water management/ catchment development in the Karamoja-Turkana Complex (KTC), Uganda
- Blue water: Blue Water Call to Action
- Case study: Borehole study findings
- Green Water: Green Water Call to Action and case study from the Restore4More project
Q&A session, including the use of Mentimeter
Convenors
Gatsby Africa
International Water Management Institute
Misereor
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU)
Stockholm International Water Institute
The IYRP Global Alliance