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The United Nations University (UNU) is the academic arm of the United Nations (UN). It bridges the academic world and the UN system. Its goal is to develop sustainable solutions for current and future problems of humankind in all aspects of life. Through a problem-oriented and interdisciplinary approach it aims at applied research and education on a global scale. UNU was founded in 1973 and is an autonomous organ of the UN General Assembly. The University comprises headquarters Tokyo, Japan, and more than a dozen Institutes and Programmes worldwide.

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QVA

The QVA Programme is a joint activity of the United Nations University and the International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO. It is an umbrella programme and composed of a series of interlinked projects addressing the objectives mentioned at "Key Goals". It proposes to address, through research and capacity development, projects and activities, the links between groundwater resources degradation and human security.

For more background information on the programme click here .

UNU-EHS project under the QVA Programme: GWAHS-CS .

Time Span

The programme is open-ended in terms of duration, but the individual projects and activities will have fixed-term time spans and address specific issues.

Key Goals

Examples of specific outcomes of QVA will be:

to increase our knowledge on the interrelationship between groundwater degradation and human vulnerability – which will serve as a proxy description of human (in)security
through vulnerability assessment and working with national and local representatives in selected case study areas, identify solutions to reduce groundwater-related vulnerability of communities
to provide solutions to the cases of transboundary issues related to groundwater and community vulnerability.

Working Methods

The problematic to be addressed will require inputs from a large array of disciplines spanning the fields of groundwater modelling to social sciences. Therefore, the projects will be developed and implemented through the vast network of partners.

The various activities under the programme will:

Advance the scientific knowledge on methods to capture the relationships between different types of pressures placed on the aquifers and the vulnerability of communities that rely on this resource, and this in a wide range of environments
Provide, through research results and effective communication, policy relevant information to local and national policymakers that would enable them to take actions to alleviate the pressures on the resources and/or reduce the vulnerability of the communities concerned
Through institutional and individual capacity development, provide the means for target countries to effectively address the issue at hand.