Zimbabwe Accelerates Accession to UN Water Conventions for Enhanced Transboundary Water Management

Zimbabwe, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, is traversed by five transboundary river basins—Buzi, Limpopo, Pungwe, Save, and Zambezi—and one international lake, Kariba. These basins create critical socio-economic, environmental, and political interdependencies among countries, necessitating robust cooperation.

In a national workshop held on 17-18 June 2024 in Harare, Zimbabwe confirmed its intention to expedite the accession process to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UN Water Convention), a global legal framework for sustainable transboundary water management serviced by the UNECE. Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development, Mr. Vangelis Peter Haritatos, emphasized the country's commitment to joining the UN Water Convention to enhance the management of its transboundary water resources.

The workshop discussed both the 1992 UN Water Convention and the 1997 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UN Watercourses Convention). These conventions, collectively known as the ‘UN global water conventions,’ were analyzed for their obligations, benefits, challenges, and next steps for Zimbabwe’s accession. The Deputy Minister highlighted the government's readiness to join both conventions due to their compatibility and complementarity.

With over 60 participants from various sectors, including ministries, basin and regional organizations, academia, and civil society, the workshop explored how the UN Water Conventions could bolster Zimbabwe's existing transboundary water cooperation efforts. Zimbabwe is already involved in several basin agreements and regional organizations, such as BUPUSACOM, LIMCOM, and ZAMCOM, and is a party to the 2000 SADC Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses. The country has shown significant progress in transboundary water cooperation, increasing the coverage of its shared basins by operational agreements from 69.90% in 2020 to 90.4% in 2023.

Despite this progress, challenges remain, particularly in data collection and groundwater management. The momentum for accession to the UN Water Convention is growing in Southern Africa, with Namibia as the first Party in the region, and countries like Zambia, Botswana, and Tanzania in the accession process. Malawi has also expressed readiness to start the process. Zimbabwe's accession could encourage other countries in the region to join and benefit from the Water Conventions.

The workshop was recognized as a “milestone moment” by Mr. Jobst von Kirchmann, Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to Zimbabwe, highlighting the EU's support for transboundary water cooperation as a tool for peace, security, and stability. The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Zimbabwe, Mr. Edward Kallon, reiterated the UN’s commitment to supporting sustainable water management and regional initiatives that promote the attainment of all SDGs.

Organized under the European Union project "Promoting accession to the Water Convention," the workshop aimed to support Zimbabwe’s accession and implementation of the Water Convention, thereby strengthening transboundary water cooperation and the sustainable management of shared water resources.