GIZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit

Funded by BMZ, supported by UKaid (from the Department of International Development) and AusAID, GIZ is currently supporting two projects in the Orange-Senqu River basin:

Transboundary Water Management in SADC

Objective

The objective of the Transboundary Water Management in SADC programme is to strengthen human and institutional capacities for sustainable management of water resources according to the Regional Strategic Action Plan (RSAP) at regional and basin levels.

Project Description

The programme provides support to the SADC Secretariat and River Basin Organisations (RBOs) to support the human and institutional capacity requirements to deal successfully with the complex issues that arise in transboundary water management.

Project Components

The program focuses on the following components:

• Strengthening of SADC Water Division, RBOs and Water Utilities
• RBO Exchange Programme
• Development of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Plans
• Training in IWRM
• Information Management
• Policy harmonisation

The international cooperating partners are BMZ - Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and UKaid (from the Department for International Development) and AusAID - Australian Agency for International Development.

The lead implementing agency and responsible institution for the programme is the SADC Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana. The project duration is from 2005 to 2015.

River Basin Organisations (RBOs):

This programme includes the following RBOs:

• LIMCOM - Limpopo Watercourse Commission
• ORASECOM - Orange-Senqu River Commission
• Kunene PJTC - Kunene Permanent Joint Technical Committee
• Rovuma JWC - Rovuma Joint Water Commission

Deliverables

Support project reports are available in the Publications section.

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Plan: Phase 1

River Basin Dialogue (RBD): Enhancing capacity of regional institutions for integrated water resources management in shared watercourses in SADC/ Sub-Sahara Africa.

Project Objective

The objective of the River Basin Dialogue (RBD) project is to enable decision-makers and managers of selected shared watercourse institutions, and their national and local partners, to develop institutional processes and implement mechanisms towards joint integrated water resources management at regional, national and local levels.

Project Description

The RBD project is designed to facilitate a process that key actors in shared watercourse institutions acquire multidisciplinary awareness and knowledge, practical skills and other key competences to fulfill their duties in the framework of the shared watercourse institutions to interact and engage with stakeholders in planning and decision-making.

Project Components

The project consists of three main components:

1. Develop multi-stakeholder participation strategies and implementation mechanisms to facilitate consensus building between user groups and River Basin Organisations (RBOs).
2. Assist RBOs to improve decision-making and coordination mechanisms for balancing economic, social and environmental aspects in water infrastructure development in shared watercourses; and
3. Improve professional capacity to adapt Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) regimes in shared watercourse institutions under conditions of climate change and potential conflicts over increasing water shortages.

The international cooperating partners are the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The project duration is from 2008 – 2011.

River Basin Organisations:

The River Basin Dialogue programme includes the following RBOs:

• LIMCOM - Limpopo Watercourse Commission
• NBI - Nile Basin Initiative
• ORASECOM - Orange-Senqu River Commission
• ZAMCOM - Zambezi Watercourse Commission
• Rovuma JWC - Rovuma Joint Water Commission