About the UNU

The United Nations University is a unique global institution established by the UN Council in 1973. The mission of the UNU system is:

To contribute, through collaborative research, capacity development and advisory services, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare that are the concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States. In doing so it pays due attention to the social sciences and the humanities as well as the natural sciences.

Essentially, the UN Council established the UNU system as a think tank to grapple with global issues of concern to the world’s population. With the Rector’s headquarters in Tokyo, there are 14 centres of excellence of UNU throughout the world, each of which with its own unique focus (e.g., Bonn: Environment and Human Security; Kuala Lampur: Global Health; Tokyo: Peace and Security). The focus of UNU-INWEH, established in 1996, is water, environment and health.

UNU-INWEH is organized around four key thematic areas of research:

1. Dryland Ecosystems

2. Coastal Ecosystems

3. Freshwater Ecosystems

4. Water, Environment and Health

Regardless of the focused theme area, the work undertaken by and within UNU-INWEH is driven by two key constructs:

1. Science-policy bridging;

and,

Built on the foundation of a commitment to excellence, UNU-INWEH undertakes traditional scientific investigations of a range of issues within their thematic areas of research (see above). However, every scientific endeavor must be characterized by a legitimate and explicit contribution to policy. This practice is consistent with the mission and vision of the UNU system and is manifested in a range of outputs including but not limited to: peer reviewed publications, monographs, policy briefs, technology transfer meetings, and workshops with key decision makers.

Further guided by the overall mission of the UNU system, all research undertakings must be linked to a capacity building component; e.g., training local decision makers on the ground; enhancing local knowledge around water-health links; training water and/or health practitioners.

While the UNU system does not grant degrees, there are tremendous research and capacity building opportunities for graduate students, particularly within the water-health nexus. Further, there is strong encouragement and support from the Rector in the recent strategic plan (2009 – 2012) for UNU to develop collaborative graduate programs with leading universities in their host countries in order to expand both the research component of UNU’s activities, as well as the capacity development opportunities for training of graduate students, communities, and decision makers.