Completed Programs
Lake Chad Transboundary Cooperation
The Lake Chad Basin is home to one of the highest concentrations of extreme poverty and protracted high-intensity conflict in the world, making it one of the most challenging places to govern. To address this, the Lake Chad Dialogue Project was established, which developed a basin-wide conceptual groundwater model. This was followed by the Lake Chad Transboundary Water Security technical cooperation, which established a consultative process with key Basin stakeholders to explore the linkages between water security and major challenges such as fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV) and climate change. Additionally, the Lake Chad Development and Climate Resilient Action Plan was developed, leading to the design of a large IDA-funded regional investment program for recovery and stabilization (PROLAC) approved by the World Bank in 2020. All of these efforts contribute to providing water to the more than 30 million people living in the four countries surrounding Lake Chad, making it a highly significant and essential resource.
In 2023, a regional stakeholder meeting reviewed the WSA and deep-dive analyses and develop recommendations for water priorities. More focused workshops were held to gather feedback from the field and finalize these products, thereby improving understanding of the perspectives and priorities of countries and the overall basin. Moreover, these workshops will also obtain stakeholder feedback and buy-in to identify key water security needs, improve the model for supporting transboundary waters management, and continue advancing progress toward recipient-executed work.
Visit the Lake Chad Basin Commission website
Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience (NCCR)
In 2021, the NCCR project was initiated by CIWA to build resilience to water insecurity and transform water management infrastructure in the Nile River Basin in order to mitigate the increasingly intense impacts of climate change. This project provides direct support to NBI’s three centers (the Nile Secretariat [Nile-Sec], NELSAP- CU, and ENTRO), NBD, and LVBC in order to collaboratively carry out components in flood- and drought- risk mitigation, dam safety capacity building, water quality investment planning and prioritization, the platform for cooperation, and innovative information services for climate-resilient investment planning. Despite the worsening inter- and intra-state violence and conflict, COVID-19 consequences, and food and water insecurity in the region, the project has still been able to strengthen inclusive development and enhance the iterative processes that build cooperation such as trust building, social capital, and a common long-term strategic vision.
The Platform for Cooperation enables countries to make collaborative decisions on a range of issues (e.g., approving investment pipelines, basin-wide programs, and regional strategies), including basin investment plans and water resource management. It provides a forum for regional consultation, planning, and decision- making, as well as helps to communicate the benefits of cooperation to a wider audience. NBI held national stocktaking consultations in four countries and participated in the World Water Forum, Cairo Water Week, and Uganda Water and Environment Week. Enhancing NBI’s communication with governments and civil society is a priority to improve the organization’s position as a valued service provider through the NCCR.
Southern Africa Drought Resilience Initiative
Population growth affects river systems in terms of water use and pollution, and droughts are adding to pressures on water resources in Southern Africa. Riparian economies depend on hydropower from the Zambezi River, but high climatic variability puts significant pressure on hydropower generation, and climate change will cause an increase in evapotranspiration from higher air temperature.
This technical cooperation, which is in its second year, integrates across sectors to lay the foundation for making Southern African countries more resilient to the multiple impacts of drought. Its main objectives are to generate tools and dialogue for enhancing partnerships and capacity across the region and to inform future national and regional investments in drought resilience-building activities.
SADRI addresses cross-border drought risks, promotes cooperative management of shared natural resources, and creates an integrated vision of drought-risk management across the water-energy-food-environment (WEFE) nexus. It supports technical assistance and analytics along three pillars – cities, energy systems, and livelihoods and food security – and fills knowledge gaps, advises on transboundary drought-risk management strategies and approaches, and connects to potential investments.
SADRI produced Drought Resilience Profiles that provide a snapshot of the drought situation in each country, as evaluated through SADRI’s organizing approach, which is predicated upon the integrated drought risk management framework: 1) monitoring and early warning systems; 2) vulnerability and impact assessment; and 3) mitigation, preparedness, and response. The Profiles are meant to establish a baseline and to serve as a conversation starter for where and how to move from reactive to proactive drought management.
SADRI Drought Profiles: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, DRC, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Sahel Groundwater Initiative
Lake Chad is an essential resource for the more than 30 million people living in the surrounding countries of Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria. Unfortunately, the basin is also home to some of the world’s highest levels of extreme poverty and ongoing conflict. The Sahel Groundwater Initiative was launched to address these issues, providing solutions to remove constraints and limitations on the use of groundwater for small-scale irrigation, reviewing the status of groundwater assessment and exploration capacity in the Western Sahel, and facilitating regional cooperation around the development of groundwater expertise in the Sahel. Through their analysis and typology of groundwater-dependent ecosystems, CIWA has identified data gaps and existing barriers to gender equality, including in access to groundwater for irrigation, groundwater management activities, and careers in the hydrogeology field.
A CIWA Learning notes series is available under the Resources section.
Great Lakes
Water Quality
In East Africa, the Lake Victoria Basin suffers from rampant poverty, heavy reliance on natural resources for livelihoods, and high population density that increases pressures on land, forests, catchments, and the lake itself. Eleven countries, eight of which are landlocked, rely on the Great Lakes for food security, livelihoods, and stability. Water quality and lake management are therefore critical for supporting the socio-economic activities of the region.
To understand how poor water quality impacts people in the Lake Victoria region and to strengthen future project design and impact, CIWA’s Great Lakes Water Quality technical assistance included a broad analysis of socio-economic indicators, a review of scientific and project literature, and community consultations on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), focusing on livelihoods. NCCR is building on this work to influence regional water quality improvement.
The CIWA’s Lake Victoria Basin Learning Notes Series gives an overview of the causes of degradation of water quality in Lake Victoria and explores potential engagement areas to improve it. Based on a World Bank study, those notes go over global and regional lake restoration lessons and the recommended long-term and multi-country strategy. Read the 4 Learning Notes:
- Improving Water Quality in Lake Victoria Basin: Social and Livelihood Development
- Improving Water Quality in Lake Victoria Basin: Sustainable Land and Water Management
- Improving Water Quality in Lake Victoria Basin: Breaking the Cycle of Climate Vulnerability
- Improving Water Quality in Lake Victoria Basin: Waste Management
Somalia Transboundary Water Resources Management
Continual reform implementation enabled Somalia to reach the first milestone in obtaining debt relief and fully re-engage with the international community in March 2020. However, an incomplete political settlement and vulnerability to shocks such as climate disasters, locust infestations, and floods are jeopardizing the country’s recovery. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa’s mainland and a population of 15 million people. Approximately 60 percent of Somalia’s land is arid or semi-arid, with uneven and irregular availability of water resources. The Shebelle and Jubba rivers are essential sources of water for people, livestock, and irrigation.
The Somalia technical cooperation, which ended in 2021, supported the country’s requested capacity-strengthening efforts through transboundary dialogue, trust-building, and information exchange to articulate water resources development options for the Juba and Shebelle basins, structure its transboundary agenda, and pursue dialogue. It supported water resource model preparation training, development of the Somalia National Water Strategy, and expansion of stream flow and regional cloud-based data.
CIWA helped Somalia develop a framework to illustrate and discuss key sector issues and priorities with its development partners and empowered Somali water experts to express their priorities in a context where agenda-setting and implementation have typically resided with international agencies and NGOs.
CIWA supported the development of a Water Resources Model to build the capacity of water sector institutions and train selected hydrogeologists on water resources modelling. CIWA has trained a dozen Somalian hydrologists on the streamflow model for the Shebelle and Juba rivers to help visualize the fluctuation of flow through time.