Water

Our water work focuses on sanitation in urban areas, and tools and tactics for ensuring that water is equitably allocated and governed

Also related to

Large-scale dams

Global Water Initiative (GWI)

Beyond the city’s borders: water and sanitation access for refugees in Mafraq

Reem Alhaddadin
28 September 2023

View of informal housing and vegetation in the background.

Blog

Simplified sewerage systems: lessons from Dar es Salaam

Christopher Yap
05 September 2023

A group of people look at a TV screen, in front of which a computer shows how they appear on the screen.

News

Indigenous Peoples call for recognition of vital role in protecting mountain water towers

16 June 2023

A small town sits beside a river with mountains in the background

Event

Protecting and restoring critical water related ecosystems in mountains: the role of Indigenous Peoples and biocultural territories in mountain ecosystems

Event on 24 March 2023

Man and woman fill up jerry cans with water from a fountain

Blog

Water access in the drylands – what’s not working?

Claire Bedelian
11 November 2022

Woman crouching grabbing wet clothes from a basket.

Blog

An unexpected cooperative project to lighten women's pandemic clothes-washing burden

Guntoro Muhammad and Dian Irawaty
01 August 2022

A field of bare earth covered with rows of dried stalks.

Case study

Climate, health and urban informal economies – stories of need and change

07 June 2022

Cranes tower over the construction of a dam, with a body of water in the foreground

News

Chinese hydropower starting to adopt social and environmental safeguarding norms, but with limitations

17 March 2022

Related collections

Learn more about focused areas of IIED's water work

Global Water Initiative – West Africa

The Global Water Initiative sought to improve global food security by enabling farmers to better access, manage and use water resources for sustainable agricultural production

Collection

Inclusive blue economy

A programme of work supporting resilient marine and coastal ecosystems and the millions of people who depend on them to thrive by aligning incentives with investments

Collection

Urban crises and forced displacement

A programme of work bringing together diverse perspectives on humanitarian emergencies and forced displacement, to inform new directions in urban crisis response

Collection

Publications

View more Water publications

Water sector reform, climate change and climate-resilient planning in central Tanzania

Sharing the benefits of hydropower to improve displaced people’s livelihoods

Drawers of Water: 30 Years of Change in Domestic Water Use and Environmental Health - Overview

Action-learning to develop and test upstream-downstream transactions for watershed protection services in Indonesia

Scoping a DFID research programme on water ecosystem services and poverty reduction under climate change Report on Initial Findings Discussion Workshop 26th April 2007, British Medical Association, Tavistock Square, London

Balancing water stress and human crises in the Bekaa Valley

Fair deals for watershed services in Indonesia

Can payments be used to manage South African watersheds sustainably and fairly? A legal review

The Global Water Initiative: Water for agriculture programme in West Africa (2012–2017)

Building better dams by sharing the benefits (IWP&DC magazine feature article)

Beyond the city’s borders: water and sanitation access for refugees in Mafraq

Blog, 28 September 2023

Simplified sewerage systems: lessons from Dar es Salaam

Blog, 05 September 2023

Indigenous Peoples call for recognition of vital role in protecting mountain water towers

News, 16 June 2023

Protecting and restoring critical water related ecosystems in mountains: the role of Indigenous Peoples and biocultural territories in mountain ecosystems

Event on 24 March 2023

Water access in the drylands – what’s not working?

Blog, 11 November 2022

An unexpected cooperative project to lighten women's pandemic clothes-washing burden

Blog, 01 August 2022

Climate, health and urban informal economies – stories of need and change

Article, 07 June 2022

Chinese hydropower starting to adopt social and environmental safeguarding norms, but with limitations

News, 17 March 2022

New archive restores knowledge produced by the World Commission on Dams

News, 21 December 2021

Sewage and water runs down the centre of a makeshift 'drain' surrounded by sandbags and wood

Do urban populations benefit from urban bias?

Blog, 01 September 2021