Transboundary water resources constitute nearly 80% of Africa’s freshwater resources. Therefore, cooperation over management of shared resources is critical for sustainable development in Africa. Meanwhile, climate change, population growth and rising demand for water further exacerbate the highly variable climatic conditions found in most parts of the continent. In this context, increased regional cooperation and joint planning, development and management of water investments and infrastructure are essential to meeting SDG targets for agricultural and industrial development, food security, energy security, climate resilience, health, and other sectors. Stronger transboundary water cooperation, as measured under SDG Indicator 6.5.2, helps contribute to meeting these SDG targets. Therefore, facilitating investment in transboundary water, with evidence based, informed and strategic selection and implementation of water infrastructure projects, will be a critical factor not only for sustainable water resources management, but the above-mentioned targets, as well.
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) has been conducting Pan-Africa Water Governance and International Water Law trainings since 2015. Building on the success of these trainings, and growing demand for knowledge and skills relevant to the preparation and financing of transboundary water projects, GWP will host, with partners, the Pan-Africa Capacity Building Workshop on International Water Law and Water Governance: for improved practices in transboundary water investments in Africa, in Entebbe, Uganda 19-23 September 2022. The training builds onto GWP’s past training workshops and is aligned with the emerging needs of Africa to facilitate transboundary water investments and better recognize the role of groundwater in integrated water resources management.
Workshop Topics
Primary topics to be covered in 2022 training include:
- Key principles of international water law
- Transboundary water investment and international water law
- Relevance of global water convention to transboundary water investment in Africa
- Regional, basin level international water law and linkages to national legislations, in the context of transboundary water investment.
- Negotiation skills related to transboundary water projects
- Women in water diplomacy
In order to ensure effective learning experiences, the training will have 4 key components: 1) a pre-requisite online training, allowing participants to familiarize themselves with key concepts of international water law; 2) lectures on key principles, theory and overview of the topics; 3) case study presentations by participants from their projects/experiences, sharing of common barriers and inter-sectoral challenges they face; and 4) group exercises to deepen understandings from the training.
Target Group
The regional training is aimed at strengthening capacities of institutions of countries and basin organisations in Africa in addressing issues related to transboundary water resources management through enhancing knowledge and skills necessary for promoting cooperation among countries.
The primary target audience for this training is transboundary water practitioners from African countries. In particular, personnel from RBOs, line ministries and respective regional organizations and economic commissions that have roles in implementing transboundary investment projects are encouraged to participate.
The training will also consider GWP Partners in Africa who are in position to contribute with specialised knowledge and experience on water governance in international watercourses.
Requirements
- Interested applicants for the IWL training are required to have a university degree in Hydrology, Environmental Science, Earth Sciences, Law, Agriculture, International Relations or a related field.
- The training will be conducted in both English and French with simultaneous translation. Thus, participants are required to be proficient in either English or French.
- Applicants are expected to share relevant case studies and examples from their work. Successful applicants will have an opportunity to further develop case studies after the workshop for potential inclusion in the GWP Toolbox.
- In order to enhance learning possibility, prior to the training, participants are expected take module 2 (water diplomacy and negotiation), module 3 (International water law), module 4 (institutions) of the Massive Open Online Course on Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security. (French version available from CapNet Virtual campus)
Participation modality
Participation is possible either online or in-person. All costs related to in-person participation should be covered by the participants. Both online and in-person participants are expected to attend the course fully.
Application Instructions