Ivory Coast joins UN Water Convention as 10th African nation

Ivory Coast joined the United Nations Water Convention, becoming the 10th African nation to do so.

In 2024, at least three more African nations, which include Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe, are in the final stages of accession and joining the convention.

Ivory Coast joined the convention to enhance cooperative water management across borders in response to growing water stress and the effects of climate change on the water resources it shares with its neighbours.

It is now the 53rd Party (country) to the 1992 UN Water Convention, which is also known as the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes.

The Convention was initially established as a regional framework for the pan-European region. Since its global expansion to all UN Member States in 2016, Chad, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Togo and Cameroon were the first African nations to accede. They were later joined by Nigeria, Namibia and The Gambia in 2023.

Ivory Coast shares eight transboundary river basins (Black Volta, Bia, Tanoe, Comoe, Niger, Sassandra, Cavally et Nuon) with six of its neighbours, which include Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Among these, the Niger basin, which is the continent’s third-longest river at 4,200 kilometres and traverses nine countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Nigeria), is one of Africa’s most vulnerable regions to climate change.

The Niger River basin is likely to experience the largest decrease in river flows in all of Africa due to climate change, according to a recent study titled Combined impacts of climate and land-use change on future water resources in Africa published in the journal Hydrology and Earth System Sciences on 8 January 2024.

Under the convention, the parties (or nations) are required to cooperate for the sustainable management of transboundary waters. Given Ivory Coast’s high vulnerability to climate change, this convention can facilitate the necessary cooperation for managing the eight river basins it shares with six neighbouring countries.

While all 54 countries are facing water insecurity, Ivory Coast is categorised as the 40th “water insecure country in the continent”, according to the Global Water Security 2023 Assessment.

Meeting the water needs of the country’s 30 million residents, whose population is growing by 2.5 per cent annually, presents numerous challenges. The region’s water supplies are threatened by urbanisation, climate change effects such as drought and flooding, and pollution from industrial and agricultural waste, illicit gold panning, and untreated wastewater, stated the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which services the UN Water Convention.

The nation’s water resources are also dispersed unevenly, with the north and northeast experiencing water stress.

“In the context of increasing water scarcity and high demand for water in Africa, Cote d’Ivoire’s accession as the 10th African Party to the 1992 Water Convention is a significant step for the continent,” said Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

According to the latest Sustainable Development Goals indicator 6.5.2 report, in Ivory Coast only 25 per cent of the transboundary basin area is covered by operational arrangements. No transboundary aquifers shared by the country are covered by operational arrangements, shows the UN portal on SDG 6.

“The accession of Côte d’Ivoire to the UN Water Convention will support relations with countries with which we share water resources. In our capacity as defenders of water in the context of the United Nations, we must use transboundary cooperation to reinforce peace and for harmonious and sustainable development in our countries,” said Minister of Water and Forest of Ivory Coast, Laurent Tchagba.

Why this is significant for Africa

Africa’s water resources have the potential to stimulate economic growth, secure livelihoods, and alleviate poverty. Transboundary water (TBW) resources are especially important in Africa, where 63 international transboundary river basins cover about 62 per cent of the region’s land area and account for 90 per cent of the total surface water. So, this development in Ivory Coast strengthens the continent’s strong momentum for water cooperation.

“Cote d’Ivoire’s accession is a milestone for multilateralism and reaffirms the role of the UN Water Convention as a tool to support water cooperation for peace, sustainable development, and climate change adaptation across borders,” said Tatiana Molcean, executive secretary of UNECE. Molcean called upon all countries worldwide to join this proven instrument for water diplomacy.

The Water Convention facilitates cooperation on surface water and groundwater too. The Convention requires Parties to prevent, control, and reduce negative impacts on water quality and quantity across borders, to use shared waters in a reasonable and equitable way, and to ensure their sustainable management through cooperation. Parties bordering the same transboundary waters are obliged to cooperate by concluding specific agreements and establishing joint bodies.

Forty per cent of the continent is situated on transboundary aquifers, where 33 per cent (381 million people) of Africa’s population resides. So, in addition to facilitating cooperation on surface water, the Water Convention helps countries work together on groundwater reserves, which are less susceptible to climate change impacts and hence crucial for climate change adaptation.

For instance, in September 2021, the UN Water Convention supported the agreement to establish a legal and institutional framework for cooperation between Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal on the management of the Senegal-Mauritania Aquifer Basin.

In fact, 20 more countries across the world are in the process of joining, the majority of which are in Africa. These include Botswana, which is in the process of joining the water convention confirmed UNECE in October 2023.

Three more African nations to join

At least three nations, which include Sierra Leone, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, are in the final stages of accession. With a mere 7 per cent of the transboundary basin area in Sierra Leone covered by operational arrangements and the lowest amongst the African nations, the country in January 2024 confirmed its intention to accelerate the accession process to the Water Convention. This will also support the country’s objective in climate change resilience and ecosystem restoration.

In February 2024, Zambia’s Cabinet had approved the accession to the global water convention and the country is likely to join the United Nations Water Convention before October 2024, according to Stanley Hantambo, Principal Water Officer, Ministry Of Water Development And Sanitation.

In June 2024, Zimbabwe had confirmed its intention to accelerate the accession process to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UN Water Convention). These are significant developments ahead of the 10th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention, to be held in Ljubljana, Slovenia (23-25 October). These also contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, where Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation by 2030, is one of the targets (6.5) under SDG 6.