Date of Issue: 2 July 2024

Harare – We, the undersigned civil society organisations, acknowledge and applaud the Government for the critical steps that it has initiated to accede to two UN Global Water Conventions and call on the Parliament and Government of Zimbabwe to respectively and expeditiously approve and accede to the two conventions, namely the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (the Water Convention) and the 1997 Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (the 1997 Watercourses Convention). The core objectives of the Conventions are the reduction of pollution, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems, along with protection of the environment and biodiversity in transboundary basins. The Conventions provide for equitable and reasonable use of transboundary waters or shared water resources. Zimbabwe shares 5 watercourses and one lake with its neighbours. These are the Buzi, Limpopo, Pungwe, Save and Zambezi watercourses and Kariba dam.

The Global Water Conventions are underpinned by several key state obligations and principles that include the obligation not to cause significant harm and to prevent harm to other watercourse states, the general obligation to cooperate based on sovereign equality, territorial integrity, mutual benefit and good faith, including good neighbourliness. More importantly, parties to the Conventions are required to ensure that transboundary waters are used in a reasonable and equitable way and to enhance promotion of the optimal and sustainable utilization of water for present and future generations. Other key state obligations include being guided by the precautionary principle, polluter-pays principle, information exchange and data sharing, joint programmes for monitoring, developing harmonized policies, programmes and strategies in managing shared watercourses. States have both the right to utilize the watercourse and the duty to cooperate in the protection and development thereof.

This call comes in the wake of a national consultative workshop organised by the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development on Zimbabwe’s accession process to the UN Global Water Conventions on the 17^th and 18^th of June 2024 in Harare. Participants were drawn from various government departments, UN agencies, the Water Convention Secretariat, the diplomatic community, international organisations, civic society, academia and foreign governments. Participants discussed the benefits of acceding to  international treaties for Zimbabwe.

Essentially, the Constitution of Zimbabwe in Section 327 states that an international treaty which has been concluded or executed by the President or under the President’s authority does not bind Zimbabwe until it has been approved by Parliament and does not form part of the law of Zimbabwe unless it has been incorporated into the law through an Act of Parliament. Accession means an act by a state in accepting to become a party to a treaty already negotiated and signed by other states and has already entered into force. In this case, Zimbabwe is becoming a member after the water conventions have already been negotiated and signed by other parties.

There are several benefits that Zimbabwe can draw from acceding to the Global Water Conventions.  In the advent of climate change, water stress, droughts and floods, it has become increasingly crucial for countries that share water resources to cooperate and develop harmonised laws based on widely accepted international laws and norms on water resources management. Zimbabwe has not been spared by the adverse effects of climate change such as floods and droughts like cyclone Idai and El Nino and. Therefore, transboundary water cooperation is an essential tool for dealing with the increasing water challenges of today and those of the future. Accession to existing international law instruments on shared watercourses helps in preventing conflicts and promotes peaceful joint management water resources. It promotes peace, and stability in the pursuance of socio-economic and environmental development. By acceding to the Conventions, Zimbabwe may benefit from implementation of international best practices and in experience sharing with other countries. In addition, accession may help the country attract technical assistance, capacity building opportunities and access any available financial support from treaty bodies or aligned institutions. This means accession may enhance credibility and build a good reputation.

Zimbabwe is already cooperating in the area of transboundary waters, being Party to the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) and the 2000 SADC Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses.  Therefore, acceding to the UN Water Conventions would not be challenging nor impose onerous conditions on the country. At bi-national level, Zimbabwe has three commissions specifically dealing with water with South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia. In total, Zimbabwe is Party to eleven transboundary water agreements at basin level. Thus, the two conventions will reinforce the commitments that Zimbabwe has made on transboundary cooperation as they are framework instruments which aim to clarify, support and  reinforce existing/future agreements, not replace them.

There is also notable momentum towards joining the two conventions in Southern Africa with Namibia being the first Party in the SADC region to join both conventions, and South Africa having joined the 1997 Watercourses Convention. Similarly, Botswana, Tanzania and Zambia are currently in the accession process to the 1992 Water Convention while Malawi formally expressed interest to join the 1992 Water Convention in 2024 and Lesotho has started discussions with the Water Convention Secretariat.

The world will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) without urgent progress on access to water, sanitation and hygiene services. Transboundary water cooperation is critical in promoting water security and attainment of SDG 6. Acceding to the UN Global Water Conventions creates a legally binding framework by which a state can conduct its activities related to transboundary rivers, lakes and aquifers which provides for predictability and transparency, it helps to create an enabling stable environment for encouraging investments and stronger water management at the national level, linking to transboundary management.

We believe that the upcoming debate in Parliament on the 3^rd and 4^th of July 2024 on the Water Conventions for approval by Parliament must be used as an opportunity to ensure that Zimbabwe moves ahead with the journey to accede to the Global Water Conventions.