Harvesting Hope: How Communities Are Reviving the Lake Chad Region
Posted in : Blog on 24 October 2025
Achta’s story reflects a broader transformation across the Lake Chad Basin. For decades, the region has been battered by conflict and climate change. Once the sixth-largest freshwater lake in the world, Lake Chad has shrunk by nearly 90% since the 1970s.
Reflections on the SADC-GMI Winter School: Lessons for a Sustainable Groundwater Future
Posted in : Blog on 4 September 2025
For two intense weeks, a young professional was immersed in a space of knowledge and exchange with lecturers, practitioners, and fellow participants drawn from across the SADC region—Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini. It was challenging, exciting—but above all, it was inspiring.
The Water Data Revolution: Transforming Transboundary Water Management in Africa
Posted in : Blog on 3 June 2025
Traditional approaches to collecting water data depend on ground-based methods such as rain gauges and weather and river flow meters. But the quality of monitoring networks has declined, and investment in infrastructure and training has been insufficient. Remote sensing technologies have emerged as powerful tools to address these challenges.
Three Keys to Successful Transboundary Water Cooperation in Africa
Posted in : Blog on 28 May 2025
Booming populations, environmental degradation, and growing climate variability are escalating water-related challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. With the impact of extreme weather events frequently crossing national boundaries, regional cooperation is essential to address them. By focusing on three keys, the Regional Climate Resilience Program is creating water management systems that can withstand climate variability while reducing cross-border tensions.
Sharing Waters, Transforming Futures: CIWA’s Action for a Climate-Resilient Africa
Posted in : Blog on 15 May 2025
CIWA supports countries to collect and share their water data, collaborate on technical and institutional capacity building, and prioritize optimized joint investments with regional benefits and shared costs.
Protecting the Cubango-Okavango River to support livelihoods
Posted in : Blog on 23 April 2025
Tracy Molefi is program coordinator at OKACOM. She and her colleagues are determined to promote sustainable development and management of the Cubango-Okavango River Basin while also improving livelihoods of communities.
Making Africa’s Water Workplaces Welcoming for Women
Posted in : Blog on 5 March 2025
As the world prepares to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, with a call to collectively #AccelerateAction, the World Bank’s Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) is more committed than ever to transforming transboundary water resources organizations into more equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplaces.
Taking the Nile Basin Discourse to the next level
Posted in : Latest on 12 February 2025
Without nature, we are nothing,” says Sylvester Matemu, who became head of the Nile Basin Discourse in 2024. “Without nature, we cannot do anything. That perspective underlies Matemu’s passion for protecting water resources and involving communities in gathering data about water and adapting to climate change. CIWA previously supported NBD with projects totaling over US$5 […]
Calming conflict through groundwater resilience
Posted in : Blog on 18 January 2025
Igbal Salah, a hydrologist at IGAD, is doing her part to minimize conflict in the borderlands of the HoA by working with CIWA on its Untapping Resilience: Groundwater Management and Learning in the Horn of Africa’s Borderlands initiative and the related World Bank GW4R program. Read the latest CIWA blog on Horn of Africa.
Empowering Women: CIWA Male Champions Unite in Lesotho
Posted in : Blog on 18 December 2024
The Cooperation for International Waters in Africa (CIWA) is committed to promoting gender equality in transboundary water management. It supports women by addressing institutional and programmatic challenges that hinder their participation. Despite positive outcomes from direct support, CIWA acknowledges that entrenched patriarchal norms still limit women’s influence in decision-making. To address this, CIWA has initiated […]