Barbara Lopi
September 18, 2015
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has ranked the top position in a global comparison of indicators of water cooperation prepared by international think-tank, Strategic Foresight Group (SFG).
According to SFG’s Water Cooperation Quotient Index 2015, SADC has scored 100 in the Water Cooperation Quotient, which is a tool with a set of ten indicators created to measure the intensity of cooperation in the management of shared water resources in shared river basins globally.
The 10 indicators include legal, political, technical, environmental, economic and institutional aspects.
In the SADC region, more than 70 percent of the region’s fresh water resources are shared between two or more Member States and cooperation is facilitated by the Protocol on Shared Watercourses.
In line with SADC’s Protocol on Shared Watercourses, river basin organisations such as the Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM), the permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM), the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM), and the Limpopo Water Course Commission (LIMCOM) have been established for promote cooperation in the management, development and use of shared water resources.
The biggest river basin organisation, ZAMCOM, comprises eight riparian states, Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Four riparian states, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique belong to LIMCOM, while ORASECOM comprise Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa; and Angola, Botswana and Namibia belong to OKACOM.
Strategic Foresight Group (SFG) is a think – tank engaged in crafting new policy concepts that enable decision makers to prepare for a future in uncertain times. For more details, the Water Cooperation Quotient is accessible online from the link: http://strategicforesight.com/publication_pdf/28799WCQ-web.pdf
