Geneva, 10 – 11 December

SADC's concern and attention to water resources management and development have evolved over the last decade, going back to SADC member-states' participation in a number of international conferences beginning in 1990.  These included:

• the UNDP Global Consultation on Safe Water and Sanitation for the 1990s, New Delhi, 1990;

• the International Conference on Water and Environment, Dublin, 1992;

• the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992; and

• the ongoing UN Commission on Sustainable Development.

After the Rio "Earth Summit," the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)  hosted an African Conference on Water Resources, Policy and Assessment, held in Addis Ababa in 1995.  For this regional gathering, an African Water Resources Policy and Assessment Strategy was prepared which outlined the broad elements for a more integrated and holistic approach to the water sector.  Using the African Water Resources Assessment Strategy as a guideline, SADC then embarked upon translating the main elements of Agenda 21 of the Rio Summit into national and sub-regional plans.  Some SADC countries participated in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)-convened meeting of top African water experts who reviewed the implementation of Chapter 18 of Agenda 21 in the African region in 1995.

The Regional Protocol on Shared Watercourse Systems, of 1995, was the direct result of SADC's growing recognition of the importance of water resources for the region's development.  Key elements of the Protocol call for member-states to:

• develop close co-operation for judicious and co-ordinated utilisation of the resources of shared watercourse systems in the SADC region;

• co-ordinate environmentally sound development of shared watercourse systems in the SADC region in order to support socio-economic development;

• hold regional conventions on equitable utilisation and management of the resources of shared watercourse systems in the SADC region;

• consolidate other agreements in the SADC region regarding the common utilisation of certain watercourses; and

• promote the SADC integration process in accordance with Article 22 of the treaty establishing SADC.

Water sector issues in SADC were initially overseen by the SADC Environment and Land Management Sector (ELMS) placed under the  ministry responsible for agriculture in Lesotho. With the growing importance attached to water, the 1996 SADC Summit created a separate Water Resources Sector and established a Water Sector Co-ordination Unit (WSCU), hosted by Lesotho's Ministry of Natural Resources.  In establishing the SADC Water Sector in 1996 member-states projected the vision for the sector as follows:

"To attain the sustainable integrated planning and management of water resources that contribute to the attainment of SADC's overall objective of an integrated regional economy on the basis of balance, equity and mutual benefit for all member-states."

As part of the implementation of its water sector vision, SADC, in collaboration with the European Union (EU),  organised the SADC-EU Conference on the Management of Shared River Basins in Maseru, Lesotho, in 1997.  The recommendations of this conference included the following principles that have relevance to this Round Table Conference discussion:

• SADC states should discuss and operationalise the concept of "equity" and "least harm," considering the differences in the contributions and demands within shared river basins.

• The political commitment to the water sector should be reflected in SADC governments allocating a fixed minimum of their national budgets for the sector.

• SADC should design appropriate institutional frameworks for integrated water resources management at both national and regional levels.

• Member-states should review, update and harmonise national laws on the basis of common approaches adopted at global and regional levels.

• SADC should prepare joint river basin plans and regional plans (possibly combining several basins) to include multi-sectoral opportunities for win-win solutions, and contingency plans dealing with crises and disasters.  Environmental considerations and water quality should be integral parts of these plans.

Ongoing Efforts in Regional co-operation in the Water Sector >>

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