The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has been accredited as an intergovernmental organisation for the 2026 United Nations Water Conference. This marks an important milestone and opportunity for ICIMOD to elevate the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) water priorities in global water and sustainable development processes.
The accreditation comes at a critical time and provides ICIMOD a formal entry point into the UN Water Conference process. The HKH is the source of 12 major river systems, supporting over 240 million people in the mountains and close to two billion people downstream. The region’s water systems are under growing pressure from accelerating glacier melt, changing monsoon patterns, floods, droughts, groundwater stress, ecosystem degradation, and rising demand from agriculture, cities, and energy systems.
For ICIMOD, this is not a stand-alone moment. It recognises the decades of work in platforming mountain water issues into regional and global policy spaces through science, cooperation, and evidence-based dialogue. ICIMOD has been working with governments, river basin networks, researchers, civil society, youth, and UN partners to strengthen shared understanding of water and climate risks across the Indus, Ganges, and Yarlung Zangbo-Brahmaputra river systems.
One of the key foundations of this engagement is the HKH Rivers Outcome Document, which was developed through the regional workshop “Water and climate resilience in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: advancing the 2030 agenda through science and cooperation”, held at ICIMOD headquarters in Kathmandu in December 2025.
The document outlines shared priorities for HKH water security, including climate-resilient Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, resilient livelihoods and energy systems, protection of the cryosphere and river ecosystems, financing for water resilience, and stronger cooperation through science-based basin platforms.
At the 2026 UN Water Conference, ICIMOD will seek to advance three core messages:
1. Mountains must be recognised as core water infrastructure.
2. Water must be addressed together with climate, ecosystem, disaster risk reduction, food system, energy, and source-to-sea river basin management.
3. Regional institutions such as ICIMOD must be recognised as implementation partners for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 6 and the post-2030 water agenda.
“This accreditation gives us an important opportunity to bring the water realities of the Hindu Kush Himalaya more clearly into global policy discussions,” said Pema Gyamtsho, Director General of ICIMOD. “What happens in the mountains moves through rivers, food systems, energy systems, ecosystems, economies, and communities. ICIMOD will continue working with countries and partners to ensure that mountain water priorities inform global action on sustainable development and climate resilience.”
Faisal Mueen Qamer, Senior River Basin Intervention Manager at ICIMOD, said the accreditation creates a timely opening to connect regional science with global advocacy. “The HKH Rivers Outcome Document gives us a shared regional agenda. The 2026 UN Water Conference provides a global platform to move the agenda forward and present a clear picture of how cryosphere change, river basin cooperation, climate-resilient infrastructure, early warning, WASH, ecosystems, and financing can be linked into the SDG 6 process”.
ICIMOD will use this opportunity to mobilise regional and international partners, strengthen alliances with UN agencies and water institutions, and ensure that the voices, risks, and solutions of the Hindu Kush Himalaya are better reflected in global water policy and implementation.
