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UNESCO established the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) in 1975 to advance water science and promote sustainable water management worldwide. As the only UN intergovernmental initiative dedicated exclusively to water, IHP strengthens scientific cooperation to help Member States secure safe drinking water, enhance resilience to floods, droughts, and other climate extremes, develop adaptation strategies for cryosphere‑related impacts such as glacier melt, and improve water quality and ecosystem health. By uniting leading scientists, practitioners, and policymakers, IHP transforms cutting‑edge knowledge, tools and methodologies into actionable guidance, enabling countries to better understand, protect, and manage this vital resource for present and future generations.
Over more than 50 years, UNESCO has built a vast global “water family network,” bringing together 170 National Committees of the IHP, 29 water centres of excellence, 93 university‑based UNESCO Chairs on water, the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) and 17 flagship water initiatives. UNESCO has also led three major water‑related international scientific decades, mobilizing global research communities around the Ocean Science Decade (2021–2030), the Cryosphere Science Decade (2025-2034), and the Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024–2033). This extensive ecosystem reflects UNESCO’s longstanding commitment to advancing water science, strengthening knowledge exchange, and driving collective action for sustainable water management worldwide.
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Discover the research contributions of UNESCO, and the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme.