The UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education was established in 2003. It carries out research, education and capacity building activities in the fields of water, environment and infrastructure. UNESCO-IHE continues the work that began in 1957 when IHE first offered a postgraduate diploma course in hydraulic engineering to practising professionals from developing countries.
The Institute is based in Delft, the Netherlands, and is owned by all UNESCO member states. It is established as a UNESCO ‘category I’ institute jointly by UNESCO and the Government of the Netherlands. The Institute is the largest water education facility in the world and the only institution in the UN system authorised to confer accredited MSc degrees.
UNESCO-IHE envisages a world in which people manage their water and environmental resources in a sustainable manner, and in which all sectors of society, particularly the poor, can enjoy the benefits of basic services.
The mandate given by UNESCO to IHE is to:
- strengthen and mobilise the global educational and knowledge base for integrated water resources management; and
- contribute to meeting the water-related capacity building needs of developing countries and countries in transition.
Within this mandate, the mission of the Institute is to:
- contribute to the education and training of professionals and to build the capacity of sector organisations, knowledge centres and other institutions active in the fields of water, the environment and infrastructure in developing countries and countries in transition.