Zimbabwe joins United Nations (UN) Water Convention, leading wave of countries in Southern Africa

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Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in drought-stricken Southern Africa, has joined the UN Water Convention in a clear demonstration of political will for water cooperation across borders. Home to some 17 million people, Zimbabwe faces pressing water challenges linked to climate change and competing socio-economic, environmental and political demands and interdependencies for the water its shares with its neighbours.

It is the 54th Party to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UN Water Convention) and 11th African country to join this treaty, following closely the accession of Cote d’Ivoire announced just last week. The Convention constitutes a unique global legal and intergovernmental framework for the sustainable management of transboundary water resources, serviced by UNECE.

In Southern Africa, a region facing extreme water stress worsened by the El Niño phenomenon where several countries  have declared national drought emergencies in the past year, Zimbabwe’s accession is part of a growing wave of countries on their way to join the Convention. Along with Namibia which in 2023 became the first Party in the region; Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania are currently in the accession processes, and Malawi has indicated its readiness to join. Having Parties in the region creates the enablin0g conditions for other countries to join and maximize the usefulness of the UN Water Convention to tackle shared water challenges. Hon. Dr. Anxious Jongwe Masuka, Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, highlighted that Zimbabwe’s accession “is sending a tone to other countries in the region which may help them decide on acceding”.

Zimbabwe’s accession further reinforces the strong momentum for water cooperation in Africa, where over 90% of water resources are in 63 basins shared by two or more countries.

During its recent national workshop in Harare on 17-18 June 2024, Zimbabwe made clear its intention to fast-track the accession process to both the 1992 UN Water Convention, and the 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (UN Watercourses Convention), two complementary treaties collectively referred to as the ‘UN global water conventions’. Zimbabwe’s accession to the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention makes it the 39th Party to this treaty, joining Namibia and South Africa from the Southern African region. Minister Masuka stated that “Zimbabwe’s accession to the UN global water conventions will enable Zimbabwe to accrue multiple benefits in transboundary water resources management”.

Zimbabwe is already a party to several basin agreements and a member State of the associated river basin organisations, including the Buzi, Pungwe, and Save Watercourses Commission (BUPUSACOM), Limpopo Watercourse Commission (LIMCOM), Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM), representatives of which also took part in the discussions during the National workshop. Zimbabwe is also a party to the 2000 Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses. Its Water Convention accession will further strengthen this existing cooperation at different scales.

The latest data on progress towards Sustainable Development Goals indicator 6.5.2 on transboundary water cooperation further demonstrates Zimbabwe’s commitment to strengthen transboundary cooperation over increasingly scarce shared water resources, improving from having 69.90% of all its shared basins covered by operational agreements for cooperation in 2020, to 90.4% in 2023. Despite such strong progress, challenges remain, especially with regards to data collection and management and groundwater management. The UN global water conventions can help in these areas, specifically via the UN Water Convention’s Programme of Work and associated tools and guidance materials.

The UN Water Convention provides an effective global legal and intergovernmental framework and unique platform with the UN system aimed to support cooperation and sustainable management of shared waters, including groundwater. Accession can enable support by the community of Parties and experience-sharing with basins and countries worldwide, strengthen joint climate change adaptation and disaster resilience efforts, facilitate access to financing and foster broader cooperation with neighbouring countries and beyond.

Secretary to the Water Convention, Ms Sonja Koeppel, recognized that “Zimbabwe’s rapid accession to the UN Water Convention is a testament to the country’s drive to strengthen its transboundary water cooperation on top of its already significant progress in this field.” Zimbabwe’s accession will be celebrated during the 10th session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the Water Convention, to be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia (23-25 October), which is expected to further catalyse the momentum for water cooperation worldwide.  

The MOP to the UN Water Convention, organised every three years, is the largest and only international meeting driving the transboundary water cooperation agenda at the global level. Some 500 representatives are expected to participate, bringing together Ministries from about 80 countries responsible for water, environment, foreign affairs and development cooperation – from both Parties and non-Parties to the Water Convention – together with representatives of joint bodies, international and non-governmental organizations, international financial Institutions and academia from all world regions.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).