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GWP Africa lays the foundation for an International Water Law Community of Practice

Global Water Partnership (GWP)’s Africa Coordination Unit hosted the first Transboundary Water Governance Lab online event on the 18th November, with the purpose of assessing interest in the establishment of an International Water Law Community of Practice (CoP). The event was attended by alumni and partners of the Pan-African Water Governance and International Water Law, which has taken place annually since 2015.

Calls for the need of an International Water Law CoP emerged from the most recent trainings and post-training digital surveys conducted with alumni in 2017 and 2019 (the results of both surveys are summarised here).

Results from the two post-training participant surveys indicated that the development of a peer-to- peer learning approach could enhance the work of practitioners working in transboundary water management and international water law through:

  • Sharing information on best practice, trends, activities and opportunities in the sector
  • Generation of new ideas, knowledge, and practices 
  • Promoting standardisation of the practice 
  • Generating and managing a body of knowledge for the sector 

Based on these results, GWP has announced an investigation into establishing a CoP for International Water Law. During the online event on the 18 November, Pan-African Water Governance and International Water Law training alumni from the past 5 years took part in brainstorming group work sessions that discussed the best modalities for a CoP.

The Pan-African Water Governance and International Water Law training has trained 168 participants from across Africa since 2015, and built the capacity of numerous transboundary water practitioners representing River Basin Organisations (RBOs), Government Transboundary Water focal points, Regional Economic Community (REC) representatives, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), academics, and youth, and has been replicated by other African institutions.

African countries share 64 transboundary river and lake basins and 72 transboundary aquifers. Transboundary water resources constitute nearly 80% of Africa’s freshwater resources. With 48 mainland African countries sharing transboundary waters, regional cooperation in the development and management of water resources is essential particularly for developing transboundary infrastructure. Therefore, cooperation over management of shared resources and facilitating investment in transboundary water is crucial for sustainable development and water security in Africa.

Page last edited: 11/25/2020