In January 2020, the National Director of Boundaries and Frontiones, Ambassador Ximena Fuentes Torrijo, was invited by Arizona State University to participate at the Schiefelbein Global Dispute Resolution Conference.

Ambassador Fuentes participated in the panel Calming the Waters: International Water Dispute Resolution. In her presentation, she lectured about the main aspects of the case Dispute over the Status and Use of the Waters of the Silala (Chile vs. Bolivia), which is still pending before the International Court of Justice.

Joining her on this panel was Rhett Larson, Associate Professor of Law, Arizona State University; Shafiqul Islam, Professor & Director, Water Diplomacy, School of Engineering and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University; Christina Leb, Senior Counsel of The World Bank; Mara Tignino, Reader, Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva.

During the discussion, the experts addressed how water is different from all other natural resources, how to determine the most appropriate stakeholders to participate in a dispute resolution process and the fact that increased water supply may exacerbate or mitigate a dispute.

The panel also shared perspectives from governments, NGOs, academia, and industry leaders regarding water disputes in different parts of the world.