News - Center for Regulation, Policy and Governance

Grid of stills from the sessions of the Rome Water Dialogue 2026

FAO

Rome Water Dialogue 2026: all of CRPG's coverage in one place

An index of CRPG's 20 reports from the FAO Rome Water Dialogue 2026, session by session, from the water tenure session where CRPG spoke to the high-level Global Dialogue on Water Tenure.

Slide: Seven Recommendations for Water Governance, from 'Nothing about youth, without youth' to 'Water tenure must center the most excluded'

FAO

'Fund us to carry out the solutions': young people present a water governance declaration at the Rome Water Dialogue

At the Youth Assembly, the World Food Forum Youth Policy Board presented a draft youth declaration with seven pillars, from co-governance and dedicated funding to formal recognition of Indigenous and customary water rights.

Slide: five messages for scaling up agricultural land restoration, including 'Rights before restoration'

FAO

'Rights before restoration': the Rome Water Dialogue's restoration panel puts tenure at the centre

A review of 61 restoration cases found that secure, flexible tenure and co-design make restoration investment last. Panellists from science, farming, conservation and standards said soils, wetlands and rangelands lack governance, not know-how.

IRMA slide: an integrated approach to irrigation planning, combining existing irrigation, biophysical suitability, development needs and expected benefits

FAO

Where irrigation pays: FAO launches IRMA, and lenders warn that irrigation raises the stakes for land and water rights

FAO's new IRMA platform maps where irrigation is feasible, needed and profitable. At its launch, IFAD warned that irrigation raises land values and disputes, and China described rights-based water allocation in the Yangtze basin.

Slide: USD 307 billion annual drought damages, about 80 per cent of drought-related economic losses fall on agriculture; the bill arrives after the shock

FAO

'We pay three times over': FAO and the development banks on the cost of drought unpreparedness

At the Rome Water Dialogue's drought session, FAO, the GEF, IFAD, ADB and the Islamic Development Bank agreed that the money for resilience exists; the bottleneck is prepared, governed, bankable projects.

FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol at the podium of FAO's Red Room

FAO

'More than 40 plans, but only six investment portfolios': ministers on drought and irrigation at the Rome Water Dialogue

FAO's Beth Bechdol warned that drought plans rarely become investments and that irrigation is not an automatic solution; ministers from the Dominican Republic, Syria, Jordan, Uganda and Italy described how they are responding.

FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol speaking at the lectern

FAO

'Who has the strongest pump': Beth Bechdol closes the high-level Rome Water Dialogue

Closing the high-level session, FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol said water tenure is about who can access water and how securely, and proposed opening the next session with the farmers, Indigenous peoples and youth who spoke last.

Daniel Mwendah M'Mailutha, President of the World Farmers' Organisation, speaking on the stakeholder panel

FAO

'Farmers are not victims': Indigenous, youth and farmer voices on water tenure at the Rome Water Dialogue

On the stakeholder panel of the high-level Rome Water Dialogue, Dionicio Canahui, Alina Mubashir and Daniel Mwendah M'Mailutha asked for recognition, real influence over decisions, and finance that reaches the farm gate.

Jippe Hoogeveen, FAO Senior Land and Water Officer, at the lectern in FAO's Plenary Hall

FAO

From a gap in the tenure guidelines to Abu Dhabi: the road to the water tenure principles

FAO's Jippe Hoogeveen traced how water was left out of the 2012 tenure guidelines and how the global dialogue reached the UN agenda; Alue Dohong reported four priorities shared by Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

Yasmine Fouad, UNCCD Executive Secretary, in her video message to the Rome Water Dialogue

FAO

'Land rights sit in one law; water rights sit in another': UNCCD backs the water tenure principles

UNCCD Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad told the high-level Rome Water Dialogue that farmers need secure access to both land and water, and that the draft water tenure principles can fill a gap the tenure guidelines left open.

Retno Marsudi, UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Water, in her video message, subtitled 'In this situation, there is only one way forward.'

FAO

'Scale up, scale up, and scale up': Retno Marsudi and UN DESA chart the road from Rome to the UN Water Conference

The UN Special Envoy on Water warned that business as usual will not cut it, while UN DESA's Li Junhua said the Rome Water Dialogue will directly inform the agenda of the UN Water Conference in Abu Dhabi.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu speaking at the lectern in FAO's Plenary Hall

FAO

'Pricing is not privatization': QU Dongyu opens the high-level Rome Water Dialogue on water tenure

FAO's Director-General told ministers that many water crises are governance crises, that water pricing must start from social justice, and that clear water rights protect customary users and build trust.

Barbara Schreiner speaking into a microphone on the stakeholder panel

FAO

'You cannot do it without transparency': Barbara Schreiner on water tenure, integrity and implementation

The Water Integrity Network's Barbara Schreiner said allocation systems fail in their design and in their implementation, and urged countries not to wait: 'We need action now.'

Pedro Arrojo Agudo speaking into a microphone on the stakeholder panel

FAO

'Do not keep this project in your drawer': UN Special Rapporteur Pedro Arrojo on the water tenure principles

Pedro Arrojo urged governments to recognise and record water rights 'urgently and unapologetically', fund community institutions by law, and carry the draft water tenure principles forward.

Germany's Ambassador Andreas von Brandt at the lectern in FAO's Plenary Hall, with the ministerial panel seated on stage

FAO

An outpouring of support for responsible water tenure at the high-level Rome Water Dialogue

Ministers, ambassadors and senior officials from ten countries and the Asian Development Bank responded to FAO's draft principles on water tenure. Here is what each said, in their own words.

Stephen Hodgson at the lectern presenting the draft principles at the High-level Rome Water Dialogue 2026

FAO

'Will I get my water?': Stephen Hodgson presents the twelve draft principles for the responsible governance of water tenure

At the high-level Rome Water Dialogue, environmental lawyer Stephen Hodgson walked governments through FAO's twelve draft principles, arranged in a circle because 'there is no hierarchy' and 'the principles are completely interlinked'.

Winfried Wicklein, Director General, Asian Development Bank

FAO

Governance and investment belong together: clear water rights "determine whether investment works or not", says ADB

At the Rome Water Dialogue, ADB's Winfried Wicklein argued that clear rights, transparent allocation rules and capable institutions decide whether water investment works. FAO's draft element on tenure security makes the same link.

FAO Plenary Hall during the ministerial panel of the High-level Rome Water Dialogue 2026

FAO

Food and water must never be instruments of pressure: Türkiye raises Gaza at FAO's water tenure dialogue

At the high-level session of the Rome Water Dialogue, Türkiye's Agriculture and Forestry Minister İbrahim Yumaklı named Gaza as among the most harrowing examples of why access to water and food must be protected in conflict, and invited countries to Antalya for COP31.

Water Tenure

Build your own water tenure storymap: CRPG's engine is now open source

The software behind tenure.crpg.info, CRPG's water tenure WebGIS and storymap, is now open source (MIT). Deploy it on your own VM with Docker Compose, add your own story and layers, and protect people in the data.

Water Tenure

Using AI skills to conduct a water tenure analysis

CRPG has published an open-source pack of AI agent skills that turns scattered evidence into a source-cited inventory of water tenure arrangements. This article explains the steps, the safeguards, what a run produced, and what the skills do not replace.