On Tuesday, June 11, 2019, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) in collaboration with Embassy of Kingdom of the Netherlands held a lecture session on “The Geography of Future WaterChallenges” in which government officials, experts, university academics, members of Civil Society, and representative from embassies participated.

Mr. Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was the speaker and Abdul Basir Azimi, AISS Research Fellow, Moderated the program. The purpose of this program was to study water management, global water conflicts, climate change and its impact, and how we can work collaboratively to settle conflicts, and decrease the effects of climate change.

Mr. Henk Ovink spoke about climate change and its impact on Asia and Afghanistan. Mr. Ovink also discussed the human causes to the Climate Change and its global human and economic impacts. “Trillions of dollars and billions of people are at risk”, said Mr. Ovink. “However, every problem is a solution with collaboration. Instead of spending money on non-responsive infrastructures, we ought to work on long-term comprehensive plans along short-term projects” he added.

Mr. Henk Ovink engaged in a roundtable discussion with the audience on water conflicts concerning Afghanistan and the region. Mr. Ovink responded to questions on how to settle water conflicts within Afghanistan and its region. He said, “collaboration is the key”. He also gave the example of the Netherlands’ water management experience as a solution that dates back to 900 year ago. Netherlands is the first country that built its water identity.