daniel chigunwe
Norest Ndawana
Herald Correspondent
The national workshop for the accession to Global Water Conventions was recently held in Harare.
The gathering was significant in informing stakeholders about the global water conventions, to share the processes initiated by Government through the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development to become party to the global water conventions, to get input from stakeholders and to discuss the next steps in the accession process.
The Global water conventions are namely; 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes and the 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses.
Participants of the workshop were drawn from various Government departments, UN Water Convention, the diplomatic community, international organisations, civic society and academia among others.
This workshop follows the pledge by President Mnangagwa, to observe international cooperation and foreign relations at bilateral, regional and international levels to implement Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 of transforming Zimbabwe into a knowledge-driven and industrialising upper middle income economy by 2030.
The governance pillar of Vision 2030, inter alia, seeks to actively re-engage the international community, especially the Commonwealth, United Nations and Western countries.
Strides towards acceding to global water conventions is clear evidence of fulfilment of this pillar.
This workshop was therefore important as it sought to move forward the process towards Zimbabwe’s accession to the UN Water Conventions, which will enable the country to accrue multiple benefits in as far as transboundary water resources management is concerned.
According to Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister Anxious Masuka, the transboundary water cooperation is inevitable for ensuring peace and security, maintaining international water relations, building mutual cooperation, sustainable development and increasing climate change resilience among the peoples of the concerned countries.
The workshop came at a time when Zimbabwe has not been spared by the adverse effects of climate change like floods and droughts, such as Cyclone Idai and El Nino, respectively.
Thus transboundary water cooperation becomes an essential tool for humanity to deal with the increasing water challenges of today and those in the future.
Joining global conventions is one of the cooperation interventions. Zimbabwe is already cooperating in the area of transboundary waters.
The country is party to the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) and the 2000 SADC Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses, at bi-national level.
Zimbabwe has three commissions specifically dealing with water with South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia. Zimbabwe is also party to a total of 11 transboundary water agreements at basin level.
The workshop was important in that it gave the country an opportunity to learn more on accession procedure in a more consultative way.
It is important that other states in the SADC region consider joining the global water conventions. Zimbabwe is ready to join the global conventions.
The European Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Jobst von Kirchmann recognised the step as milestone moment and assured Zimbabwe that it is not alone in this journey.
United Nations resident and humanitarian coordinator for Zimbabwe, Mr Edward Kallon, applauded the country for heeding the calls by the UN to join the two global water conventions.
For Zimbabwe to become a full member of the global conventions, there is need for approval by Parliament, signing of instruments of accession by the President and depositing the same with the UN Secretary-General.
The key unanimous resolutions that came out of the two-day discussions are that Zimbabwe must accede to the global water conventions.
It was also established that there was need for the legislation to be aligned to international treaties, which the country is signatory to.
It is also significant to invest in the area of groundwater, as this is an area that is not well researched, especially in the transboundary context on shared aquifers.
Collaborative research among the academia, Government and river basin organisation is important and there is need for member states to invest in robust hydrological and hydro meteorological equipment to increase coverage and quality of data that is shared between member states.
Gender and social inclusion was highlighted as important as well as the need to strengthen information management and sharing at transboundary level.
Zimbabwe is determined to complete the accession process before the 10th Meeting of Parties to be held later this year.
There is notable momentum towards joining the two conventions in Southern Africa which has seen Namibia as the first party in the SADC region to join both conventions, South Africa having joined the 1997 Watercourses Convention, Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia currently in accession process to the 1992 Water Convention.
Malawi formally expressed interest to join the 1992 Water Convention in 2024.
Online Reporter