“After Nigeria and Iraq’s accession earlier this year, this shows the relevance of the Water Convention as key means for supporting sustainable development and preventing conflict over shared waters,” she added.
Following Namibia’s accession to the UN Water Convention on 8 June 2023, this step will help to consolidate the long-standing commitment to transboundary water cooperation in Southern Africa.
Namibia has ratified basin agreements and is a member state of basin organizations including: the Okavango-Cubango River Commission (OKACOM) shared with Angola and Botswana; the Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM) shared with South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho); the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM) with all other riparian states of Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe; and the Cuvelai Watercourse Commission (CUVECOM) with Angola. At a regional level, Namibia is a party to the 2000 Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses and to the 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses (Watercourses Convention).
I warmly congratulate Namibia on its accession to the UN Water Convention as called upon by the UN Secretary General to all UN Member States. As the first party in Southern Africa, Namibia opens the door to more countries in the region joining this unique treaty to help address water challenges across national borders, which is especially crucial due to rising climate change impacts
At a regional level, Namibia is a party to the 2000 Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses and to the 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses (Watercourses Convention).
Namibia is one of only two countries in Africa to have all its transboundary freshwater bodies covered by operational management arrangements according to the national report submission for the 2nd monitoring exercise in 2020 of SDG Indicator 6.5.2, for which UNECE and UNESCO are co-custodian agencies. The third exercise is currently ongoing.
Source link : https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/june-2023/namibia-becomes-first-southern-african-country-join-un-water-convention
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Publish date : 2023-06-12 07:00:00
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