Zambezi River Basin

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 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

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.

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. 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. Principles of the Revised SADC Protocol on SharedWatercourses

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.”

Source: SADC 2000

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