More than 40 experts from transboundary water basin organizations and riparian governments in South-East Asia, the Americas, Africa and Europe met to exchange ideas and experiences concerning the development of institutional capacities to manage shared waters and to strengthen sustainable transboundary cooperation.

The transboundary waters that were represented at the workshop are:

Danube: International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River

Guarani aquifer: Guarani Aquifer Project, Organization of American States

Great Lakes: Canadian Section of the International Joint Commission (IJC)

Harirud: Iranian Section of the Harirud Joint Commission

Mekong: Vietnam National Mekong Committee (VNMC)

Niger: Autorité du Bassin du Niger / Niger Basin Authority (ABN)

Nile: Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)

NWSAS: L'Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel (OSS)

Okavango: Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM)

Rhine: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)

Senegal: Organisation de Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal (OMVS)

In the opening session the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Karin Kortmann emphasized that UNW-DPC’s work is important, as access to water is a prerequisite for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and capacity development is vital for ensuring sustainable access to water for all. She furthermore outlined five theses that are fundamental for successful development of institutional capacities and transboundary water management, among which were the political will to engage in dialogue, clear rules of interaction and a clear definition of division of labor and responsibilities, harmonization of national policy instruments and legislation, and the strengthening of institutional and human skills at all levels. Last but not least, she emphasized that transboundary water management needs sustainable financing.

Dr Fritz Holzwarth, Deputy Director General for Water Management at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), discussed the importance of capacity development as a tool for transboundary water management and cooperation. He underlined that transboundary water cooperation needs patience and that capacity development is a long term investment as a kind of ‘software’ to make such cooperation work. UNW-DPC therefore was setting the right tone to organize this workshop, according to Dr Holzwarth, as institutional capacity development is a strategic issue and an innovative approach to develop long-term institutional knowledge.

The workshop was introduced by a keynote speech of Dr András Szöllösi-Nagy, secretary of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP) who presented global change drivers and impacts on transboundary water management. He also raised the awareness about current looming water crises and explained that water resources are recognized as a principal priority for UNESCO. Through its PCCP program UNESCO aims to foster co-operation between stakeholders in the management of shared water resources, while helping to ensure that potential conflicts do not turn into real ones, through the development of tools for the anticipation, prevention and resolution of water conflicts. Furthermore he stressed that poor data availability will be a major source of risk and vulnerability in the basins and more attention should be given to this issue.

The workshop was structured in three plenary sessions addressing cooperation and joint decision making, and the strengthening of joint bodies. In each session three to four basins explained what institutional arrangements were successfully put in place and to what extent the required capacities were available and how these were developed and/or strengthened. Also lessons learned and further needs for institutional capacity development in the particular basins were presented. The presentations functioned as an input for discussion in the subsequent discussion groups.

In the latter, participants discussed institutional capacity requirements and necessary capacity development activities as well based on the presented cases and additional examples from their own experiences to set up particular required legal and policy frameworks, cooperation mechanisms and funding mechanisms. Please download the presentations for more information.

Introductory Speeches
Session 1: Cooperation and joint decision making - between regional bodies, national authorities and other stakeholders
Session 2: Cooperation and joint decision making - developing goals on water management
Session 3: Strengthening of joint bodies - organisation, monitoring and data sharing

Please also visit the photo gallery for photos of the workshop.

For more information on the participants and the selected basins, please download the workshop summary report and the workshop pre-proceedings. The final proceedings will soon be available for download.