ABSTRACT
When actors involved in the governance of shared water resources are political rivals, their game often blocks the smooth application of the law and constitutes an obstacle to the development, interpretation, revision of, or compliance with, an agreement. It such cases it becomes necessary to rely on the intervention of a third party.
Often times, the nature of issues at stake calls for the improvement of their relationship, the level of trust they have vis-à-vis each other and the quality of their communication. A judicial institution does not quite have the mandate to do that. It is the role of a diplomatic third party who enjoys the confidence of the parties. A diplomatic third party can be an individual person or an organization.
This chapter investigates the role, advantages and disadvantages of organizations’ involvement in water diplomacy processes. It provides several recommendations to avoid identified drawbacks and compares it to individual third parties’ roles in similar situations.
