Strengthening Cooperative Management of International Waters in Africa

Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) was launched by the Africa Water Resources Management Unit of the World Bank.

The idea is for CIWA to support and assist riparian governments in Africa to work together to address and unlock the constraints on growth and development posed by international waters. The program is supported by various Development Partners, including the UK’s Department for International Development, Denmark and Norway.

CIWA has been designed to respond to the requirements of organizations engaged in international waters and promote collaboration and development. Partnerships will be established between international waters organizations (represented in general by riparian governments and river basin organizations where they exist) and CIWA, represented by the World Bank.

In its design, emphasis has been placed on the lessons learned from past World Bank involvement on transboundary water issues including the Nile, Niger, Zambezi and Senegal River Basins in Africa, international waters in other regions, as well as other programs supported by multi-donor trust funds such as the African Water Resources Management Initiative (AWRMI), the Water Partnership Program (WPP) and the South Asia Water Initiative (SAWI).

What are the goals of CIWA?

• Strengthened regional cooperation and integration to bring greater regional stability and a conducive enabling environment for sustainable growth
• Strengthened water resources management underpinning evidence based knowledge for planning and decision making to maximize sustainable development opportunities and minimize climate related risks
• Strengthened water resources development, enabling resilience to climate related shocks, enhancing food security, and enabling countries to follow a lower carbon growth path through hydropower use
• Strengthened stakeholder engagement and coordination, enabling greater voice and accountability, and supporting a broad base of potential investment finance opportunities

The Program is ambitious and recognizes the long term nature of engagement in international waters and the scale of financing required for the preparation of regional investment projects.   To this end, CIWA aims to attract funds in the range of US$200 million over a ten year period to enable the successful achievement of its objective at a significant scale.

Soon to follow is a post detailing the proposed activities of CIWA.