There are two global water conventions, namely the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention, which is serviced by UNECE) and the 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (Watercourses Convention) which aim to facilitate such cooperation.
A workshop entitled ‘Practitioner to Practitioner: Regional Training on Promoting Implementation to Two Global Water Conventions’ was held on 18-19 June 2019 in Dakar, Senegal, bringing together participants from countries, basin commissions and other agencies across francophone Central and West Africa such as Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and representatives from the European Union delegations, United Nations agencies, African Development Bank, river basin organizations, technical and financial partners as well as regional and sub-regional institutions.
A common understanding on the practical benefits of implementing and acceding to the global water conventions were the key outcomes from the two-day training organized by the Secretariat of the Water Convention in partnership with the Government of Senegal, the Senegal River basin development Organization (Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal- OMVS), the Geneva Water Hub, International Union for the Conservation Nature, and the Global Water Partnership (GWP), with the financial support of the European Union.
The training enabled regional professionals to share their own practical experiences of water cooperation in order to find ways to work more effectively and in closer partnership to promote, implement and accede to the two global framework Conventions.
Mr. Hycinth BANSEKA, Regional Coordinator GWP Central Africa and Mr. Sidi COULIBALY, GWP West Africa represented GWP at the meeting.
