Arria-Formula meeting on Protection of Civilians…

The meeting will take stock and reflect on good practices shared by member states in relation to the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 2417 (2018) and 2573 (2021), among others, relevant to the protection and provision of water-related essential services and infrastructure. It will focus on essential water-related infrastructure and services, while acknowledging that basic infrastructures and essential services, such as healthcare, water, sanitation, energy, are often interdependent. It will draw attention to the humanitarian impacts resulting from disrupted essential water services, with a focus on the most vulnerable groups, including children.

Furthermore, the event will recall the importance of respecting and implementing international humanitarian law (IHL) in this regard, including as a condition for the continuation of service delivery and effective post-conflict recovery and resilience-building. The humanitarian situation is often compounded by economic crises, but also increasingly by frequent and severe weather events and natural disasters (UNSC Resolution 2573 PP16), such as floods, cyclones or drought. Therefore, this meeting will also aim at providing a better understanding of how dealing with the adverse effects of climate change, as a compounding factor, can inform effective measures for the protection of water services and infrastructures in contexts of armed conflicts, and how they should be taken into consideration in prevention and recovery measures.