EventsThe Transboundary Freshwater Security Governance Train continues its journey. The next online session is planned for 12 December 2023. The 16th online interactive session explores the effective ways of using water data for water negotiations and water diplomacy in transboundary basins.
Countries sharing transboundary river basins often have conflicting demands over the available amount of water to be divided among them. Under the influence of climate factors and economic development, such demands increase with time and tend to result from uncertainty about the availability of water in the coming years. Reaching an agreement often relies on available water data and forecasting in cases when countries put forward conflicting demands. Negotiations over a water-sharing agreement or basin management arrangement benefit greatly from trust-building exercises, for example, conducting joint water data analyses or integrating scientific knowledge about water into the management decisions.
This event will focus on effective ways of using water data for water negotiations and water diplomacy in transboundary basins. It will also explore how availability of water data drives or impedes progress in adopting basin agreements and policies, as well as case studies of using water data in practice. The first part of the event features stories from data-rich and data-poor regions, and what the presence or absence of data has translated to in water negotiations. The second part of the event showcases experts from the world’s newest river basin organization in the Buzi-Pungwe-Save basin.
The event will be hosted by the Global Water Partnership and the Oregon State University. It is part of the ongoing efforts to engage more with participants of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security.
During the event we will explore the following issues:
- What are the necessary pre-conditions for data and information sharing between riparian countries?
- What is the role played by national information systems for transboundary negotiations?
- What is the impact of good quality data on transboundary water negotiations? I.e., as leverage to transition from position to interest-based negotiations
- What are the most common data sharing arrangements and mechanisms?
- What is missing from datasets?
Our speakers:
- Aaron Wolf, Professor of Geography at the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University (OSU)
- Yumiko Yasuda, Senior Network and Transboundary Water Cooperation Specialist, GWP
- Elisha Madamombe, Regional Coordinator, Management of Competing Water Uses and Associated Ecosystems in Pungwe, Buzi, and Save Basins Project
- Idrees Malyar, Graduate Research Assistant, OSU
- Leads of the BuPuSa basin negotiations from Zimbabwe and Mozambique:
- Dra Alda Maunde, ARA-Sul, IP, Mozambique
- Dr Agostinho Vilanculos, DNGRH, Mozambique
- Mr. Norest Ndawana, Deputy Legal Advisor, Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Zimbabwe
- Eng. Mawere, Zimbabwe, Director - Water Resources Development and Utilisation in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Zimbabwe
Watch the recording of the session: