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Institutional Arrangements and Policy
A number of initiatives and activities have since
been put in place to facilitate harmonisation,
transparency and accountability in the water
resource sector. However there is no single
focal point to manage the resource. The need to
formalise the cooperative framework and further
strengthen basin-wide cooperation remains
a challenge (SADCWater Division 2008). The
policies and strategies mentioned here have
been put in place to promote integrated resource
management among the riparian states.
SADC Regional Water Policy
The Southern African Development Community
(SADC) Regional Water Policy was developed
in 2005 through a highly consultative
and participatory process involving many
stakeholders. The Policy, implemented through
a regional strategy adopted in 2006, is premised
on the SADC Treaty, the Revised SADC Protocol
on SharedWatercourses, the SADC Vision for
Water, Life and the Environment in the 21st
Century, and the Dublin Principles.
This regional water policy is aimed at providing
a framework for sustainable, integrated and
coordinated development, utilisation, protection
and control of national and transboundary water
resources in the SADC region for the promotion
of socio-economic development and regional
integration and the improvement of quality of
life of all people in the region. It was developed
to facilitate the implementation of the Revised
Protocol on SharedWatercourses, and to have a
focused, coordinated management of regional
water resources (SADC and SARDC 2008).
The policy recognises IntegratedWater
Resources Management (IWRM) as the basic
approach to achieving these objectives and
ultimately the goal. Appropriate tools for
implementing IWRM are proposed, including:
• establishment of institutions at national and
regional levels;
• capacity building;
• stakeholder participation;
• water resources information management;
• implementation of IWRM plans;
• conflict resolution; and,
• environmental management.
Revised SADC Protocol on SharedWatercourses
The Protocol entered into force in 2003 and its
main objective is to foster close and coordinated
cooperation in the management, protection
and utilisation of shared watercourses and
to advance the SADC agenda of regional
integration and poverty reduction. The Protocol
is the first sector-specific legal instrument to be
developed by SADC and creates an overarching
framework for management of the 15 shared
river basins in the SADC region.
IWRM is defined as “a process that promotes
the coordinated development and
management of water, land and related
resources in order to maximise the resultant
economic and social welfare in an equitable
manner without compromising the
sustainability of vital ecosystems.”
The main points of the Protocol on Shared
Watercourses are:
• Ensuring that utilisation of shared
watercourses is open to each riparian
state without prejudice to its sovereign
rights;
• Observing the objectives of regional
integration;
• Ensuring that all interventions are
consistent with sustainable development;
• Respecting the existing rules of customary
and general international law;
• Recognising the unity and coherence of
each shared watercourse system;
• Maintaining a balance between water
resources development and conservation;
• Pursuing close cooperation in the study
and execution of all projects on shared
watercourses, exchange of information
and data;
• Utilising a shared watercourse in an
equitable and reasonable manner;
• Maximising the benefits from a shared
watercourse through optimal and
sustainable development;
• Participating and cooperating in the use,
development and protection of a shared
watercourse;
• Taking all appropriate and reasonable
measures when utilising a shared
watercourse to prevent significant harm
to other states;
• Eliminating or mitigating such harm
and where appropriate, discussing
and negotiating the possibility of
compensation; and
• No state shall deny anyone the right
to claim compensation or other relief
in respect of significant harm caused
by activity carried out in a shared
watercourse.
Source: SADC 2000
Principles of the Revised SADC
Protocol on SharedWatercourses