Tehran Hosts 14th Governing Board Meeting of Regional Centre on Urban Water Management (UNESCO-RCUWM)
The Fourteenth Governing Board Meeting (GBM-14) of the Regional Centre on Urban Water Management – under the auspices of UNESCO (RCUWM-Tehran) was held on 4 December 2025, from 9:00 to 11:30, at Isfahan Hall of the Tehran International Permanent Fairground, Tehran, Iran, with participation of 10 member states and some international organizations such as UNESCO, WMO and ECO.
The meeting commenced with opening remarks by Director of RCUWM, followed by a formal welcome address delivered by the H.E. Mr. Aliabadi, Minister of Energy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Chairman of RCUWM Governing Board. The Minister highlighted the Centre’s long-standing role in bridging science, management and policy, enabling meaningful cooperation among GB member states through research, knowledge exchange and innovation. He emphasized that this GB meeting marked the beginning of a more ambitious chapter in regional collaboration, outlining seven strategic priorities, as stated below:
- Recognizing urban water security as a regional responsibility;
- Joint management of transboundary water rights, droughts and floods;
- Extraction and planning of national and regional water balances;
- Integrating water–energy–climate nexus approaches into governance;
- Water reuse and non-conventional water resources;
- Advancing digitalization and Artificial Intelligence in urban water systems;
- Enhancing standardization, capacity building and water diplomacy.
The Chair welcomed delegates from member states and partner organizations, noting the significance of the Centre’s multi-year programs aligned with UNESCO-IHP Phase IX (2022-2029).
The Governing Board Members reviewed the main issues related to the Centre’s mandate and activities. The deliberations focused on strategic priorities, alignment with the objectives of UNESCO-IHP, and shared regional challenges in urban water management, including climate change impacts, water scarcity, floods, and droughts. Members and partner organizations presented their views, experiences, and proposals.
Mr. Hajrasouliha as RCUWM director presented an overview of the Centre’s structure, human resources and activities since the GBM-13 and pointed out the most important activities which the Centre is planning for 2026-7. Moreover, RCUWM senior advisers presented a short overview on the project proposals, their objectives, method of implementation and expected outcomes and the floor was put to the Centre’s member states and organizations for receiving their interests to be involved in running the projects jointly with RCUWM.
At the end, the Chair, expressed appreciation for the constructive discussions and the active participation of all delegates. He invited participants to take the opportunity to learn about Iran’s latest water and wastewater-related technologies during their stay. In his closing remarks, the Chair confirmed that RCUWM will correspond with member states regarding upcoming meetings and venues and welcomed future offers to host Governing Board meetings.
