Highlights and images for 22 October 2024

Following the concepts of supply and demand, today’s interactive Match-making Event brought together those needing support and those able to provide it, to prompt implementation of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) and thus strengthen transboundary water cooperation worldwide. The event saw more than 120 participants spark ideas and channel their energies to strengthen transboundary water cooperation by identifying technical and financial resources for the implementation of Water Convention-related plans and projects.

This one-day session was held as a precursor to the tenth session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP 10) to the Water Convention, which will open on Wednesday 23 October.

In the Match-making Event’s opening session, Tanja Fajon, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Slovenia, illustrated Slovenia’s experience in cooperating with neighboring countries on the shared Sava River. Marco Keiner, Director, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Environment Division, on behalf of UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean, explained the event was about making connections and finding finance to move forwards with transboundary water projects. Malam Sambu, Minister of Natural Resources, Guinea-Bissau, drew attention to the impacts of climate change on water resources. Marjeta Jager, Deputy Director-General, Directorate-General for International Partnerships, European Commission (EC), recalled the importance of the Water Convention as a convening platform to foster transboundary water cooperation and reiterated EC support for the Convention.

In a session on implementing the Water Convention and financing transboundary water cooperation, Sonja Koeppel, Secretary of the Water Convention, gave an overview of the history and main objectives of the Convention. She provided examples of successful recent national-level actions and highlighted several technical support mechanisms under the Convention, especially through its programme of work.

During an online intervention, Bob Alfa, Water Resources Commission, Ghana, noted that Ghana has used the Water Convention to guide its national water policy and mobilized domestic financial resources to implement it. 

During a session on the Water Convention’s catalyst role in unlocking financial and technical support, Landing Bojang, Department of Water Resources, The Gambia, presented on his country’s experiences with the Senegal – Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (SMAB) cooperation project. Stanley Hantambo, Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation, Zambia, described the twinning initiative undertaken by Zambia, Ghana, and Hungary in 2023 and 2024. He illustrated how  through the twinning approach, experienced and new Parties can collaborate to implement the Convention and find opportunities for technical support.

In the afternoon, a small-group setting gave participants an opportunity to interact with technical and financial partners about financial mechanisms and tools they offer to support transboundary water cooperation. Partners included representatives of: the African Development Bank (AfDB) and its African Water Facility; the EC Directorate-General for International Partnerships; the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and its International Waters (IW)-LEARN initiative; the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF); and the World Bank.

In a second interactive session, new Parties presented their respective project proposals developed to implement the Water Convention. Participants then engaged in in-depth discussions of these proposals to get recommendations from technical and financial partners on how to improve these proposals to mobilize financial resources. 

Returning to a plenary format, they heard the main outcomes of these discussions. Lessons learned included recommendations such as linking the proposals to national strategic priorities and engaging riparian countries to develop joint proposals. Next steps included approaching technical and financial partners country offices to ensure the proposals are prioritized nationally and have political support, and making linkages such as with climate change or biodiversity projects. Many voiced appreciation for the session and highlighted its importance in learning how to shape effective, bankable proposals.

The closing session heard a word of caution from Meike van Ginneken, Water Envoy for the Netherlands, against wasting time pursuing matches that are unpromising, and a suggestion to shift the narrative “from grants to investments” from Christian Frutiger, Assistant Director General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). In noting that Water Convention MOPs only drew around 50 countries a mere decade ago whilst over a hundred will be present tomorrow, Sonja Koeppel highlighted the Convention’s achievements and concluded that its implementation is “a responsibility of all of us.”