Transboundary waters: Zimbabwe joins two UN global conventions
As Africa promotes the sustainable growth of its seas and oceans on 25 July 2024, Zimbabwe is also determined to protect its shared water resources. This is the rationale behind its recent accession to the two global United Nations conventions on water, namely the Water Convention and the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses.
It’s now official. Zimbabwe becomes the 11th African country to accede to the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (the Water Convention) after Ivory Coast, and the 15th African State, after Tunisia in 2009, to ratify the 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses.
Adopted on 19 July 2024, the Water Convention, or Helsinki Convention, will enter into force for Zimbabwe on 17 October 2024 in accordance with Article 26(3), which stipulates: “For each State or organization referred to in Article 23 which ratifies, accepts or approves this Convention or accedes thereto after the deposit of the sixteenth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, the Convention shall enter into force on the ninetieth day after the date of deposit by such State or organization of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, acceptance, approval or accession”, says the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which provides the secretariat for the Water Convention, the current international framework agreement on transboundary freshwater. It aims to protect water resources and ensure their quantity, quality and sustainable use by facilitating and promoting cooperation.
“Zimbabwe’s rapid accession to the United Nations Water Convention is testimony to the country’s desire to strengthen its cooperation in the field of transboundary waters, in addition to the already significant progress it has made in this area”, said Sonja Koeppel, Secretary of the Water Convention. Indeed, the shared basins of the East African country covered by cooperation agreements have risen from 69.90% in 2020 to 90.4% in 2023. Despite this considerable progress, challenges remain, particularly with regard to the collection and management of data and the management of groundwater, which is currently over-exploited due to drought.
The country’s accession to the Helsinki Convention could help in these areas, particularly through the UN Water Convention’s work programme and associated tools and guidance documents.
At least five rivers shared with its neighbours
Zimbabwe’s ratification of this legal framework could also help to support the community of parties and the sharing of experiences with basins and countries around the world, strengthen joint efforts to adapt to climate change and build resilience to disasters, facilitate access to funding and foster broader cooperation with neighbouring countries and beyond.
Zimbabwe shares a total of five rivers and one international lake with neighbouring countries. These are the Buzi, Limpopo, Pungwe, Save and Zambezi rivers and the Kariba dam, shared with Mozambique to the east, South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west and Zambia to the north.
Also ratified by Zimbabwe on 19 July 2024, the 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses should provide Emmerson Mnangagwa’s country with a normative framework to guide the development of regional or sub-regional agreements, taking into account the specific characteristics of each basin or sub-basin. This approach is based on five pillars: the principles of water sharing, the duty of riparian states to cooperate, environmental protection, the principle of public participation, and dispute prevention and settlement mechanisms.
