The goal of the programme is to promote water as a key part of sustainable regional and national development and contribute to climate change adaptation for economic growth and human security.

The objectives of the programme are to support countries in:

• the integration of water security and climate resilience in development planning processes

• the development of partnerships and capacity of institutions and stakeholders to build resilience to climate change through better water management
• the development of “no regret” financing and investment strategies for water security and climate change adaptation.

The structure of the programme is around 4 components with 8 Work Packages as follows:

Component 1: Investments in regional and national development
• Work Package 1: Regional and Transboundary cooperation
• Work Package 2: National development and sector plans
• Work Package 3: Investments
• Work Package 4: Project preparation and financing
Component 2: Innovative Green Solutions
• Work Package 5: Demonstration projects
Component 3: Knowledge and capacity development
• Work Package 6: Capacity development
• Work Package 7: Knowledge and awareness
Component 4: Partnership and sustainability
• Work Package 8: Governance and fundraising

By building climate resilience, the initiative will contribute to peace building and conflict prevention, support pan-African integration and help safeguard investments in economic development, poverty reduction and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The initiative intentionally aims to strengthen global-regional-national linkages. The programme will take the lessons learned at the national level into regional and global discussions on climate change adaptation. Efforts will be made to ensure that planning at the national and regional level is informed by the latest analyses and processes on the global level.