CONTEXT
CIWA PROGRAM: GOING BEYOND WATER
Transforming Challenges into Opportunities
The World Bank’s Cooperation in International Waters in Africa program—CIWA—is at the forefront of tackling Sub-Saharan Africa’s most urgent water-related challenges and transforming them into opportunities for resilience and growth. Challenges include:
A Unique Force for Collaboration
Since 2011, CIWA has catalyzed change by accelerating transboundary water cooperation in Sub-Saharan Africa to enable governments, river basin organizations, civil society groups, and others to make evidence-based decisions about water resources management and development. CIWA is:
Our Impact
CIWA’s work aligns with the World Bank’s mission to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet. CIWA consistently gets results by working across three pillars—information, institutions, and investments.
CIWA has catalyzed:
Initiatives and Programs: A Regional Approach
West and Central Africa
West and Central Africa faces increasing climate change impacts, including prolonged drought and unpredictable rainy seasons. The Sahel also suffers from fragility, violence, weak institutions, and political instability. In a region with widespread gender inequality, CIWA is working to ensure the equitable participation of women in decision making about water resources. It also is improving water security by addressing knowledge and capacity gaps, identifying investments and policy actions, and emphasizing the sustainable management and development of groundwater.
Lake Chad Water Security – this initiative assesses the current state of water security and transboundary cooperation in the Lake Chad Basin at the political (vision), institutional (roles), and technical (investments) levels. It is divided into two pillars: Pillar A focuses on building the analytical and institutional foundation for water security and informs the identification and design of activities under Pillar B to catalyze future investments. Know more.
Improving Water Resources Management in West and Central Sahel: the initiative aims to improve water resources management by identifying pragmatic investments and policy actions, as well as addressing critical knowledge and capacity gaps. Know more.
East Africa
East Africa faces numerous challenges, including food and water insecurity, growing violence and conflict, and climate change impacts. CIWA, which grew out of the progress made by the Nile Basin Trust Fund in water resources management and development in that basin, continues to enhance the region’s resilience to climate change and water insecurity through advancing water disaster mitigation and early warning systems.
The Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience (NCCR) supports regional coordination on dam safety policies and flood early-warning systems in the Nile Basin. Know more.
Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Climate Resilience Program: NCCR also leveraged additional IDA funding for ENTRO and NELSAP-CU via this new Program so they can work closely with South Sudan in addressing the transboundary dimension of the floods. Know more.
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is facing cascading impacts from the worst drought in four decades, which CIWA is working to ameliorate. CIWA also is improving access to groundwater through nature-based infrastructure as the region’s cornerstone of water security. It is expanding the knowledge base on groundwater, strengthening the capacity of partners to manage and develop this valuable resource, working to understand the influences of water insecurity on FCV situations, and improving regional initiatives to build resilience.
Untapping Resilience in the Horn of Africa (HoA) strengthens regional cooperation and capacities in groundwater development and management and expanding the knowledge base on groundwater resources. Know more.
South Sudan Transboundary Waters Support Program – To complement the World Bank’s Regional Climate Resilience Program (RCRP) for Eastern and Southern Africa, which aims to increase resilience to water-related climate shocks, CIWA launched the Strengthening Transboundary River Basin Organizations through Program Development and Capacity Building in Africa and the South Sudan Transboundary Waters Support Program. The latter will include large-scale analytics and advisory support to deepen the dialogue on climate risk and water resource management in refugee hosting areas and define targeted interventions to maximize climate resilience at multiple scales. Know more.
Southern Africa
Prolonged drought conditions in Southern Africa are fueling food and water insecurity, poverty, and economic fragility. CIWA is addressing the region’s significant challenges managing its increasingly important groundwater resources. It is building resilience to drought by addressing cross-border drought risks, improving management of shared waters, and facilitating cooperation around sustainable management of transboundary aquifers and river basins.
The Southern African Development Community Groundwater Institute’s (SADC-GMI’s) Phase Two project: building on the dynamic Phase One project, this project provides the SADC-GMI strategic guidance on how to manage water and food security impacts, boost livelihoods, and adapt to climate change. Know more.
Support to Regional Climate Resilience in Eastern and Southern Africa: strengthening Transboundary Basin Organizations through Program Development and Capacity Building in Africa, is supporting the World Bank’s implementation of the Regional Climate Resilience Program for Eastern and Southern Africa. RCRP is a regional IDA-funded multiphase programmatic approach that promotes a bottom-up and demand-driven strategy for regional cooperation and aims to increase resilience to regional water-related climate shocks. Phase 1 includes Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Sudan, the NBI, and SADC;36 Phase 2 includes Malawi and the African Union. Know more.
Cross-cutting engagements and Pillars of the program
The escalating pressure on transboundary waters across the African continent is driven by factors such as climate change, population growth, conflicts, client demands, strategic priorities, and improved methodologies addressing cross-cutting themes. These themes include biodiversity, climate resilience, gender and social inclusion (GESI), and fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV). These elements serve as crucial pathways for achieving results in the areas of investments, information, and institutions, collectively referred to as the CIWA’s three Is. In response to these challenges, CIWA has developed an updated 2.0 Theory of Change and Results Framework that focuses on these essential cross-cutting themes.
Last Updated: Apr 02, 2024
Learn more about our programs by navigating the CIWA website:
In West and Central Africa: https://www.ciwaprogram.org/west-and-central-africa/
In East Africa: https://www.ciwaprogram.org/east-africa/
In Horn of Africa: https://www.ciwaprogram.org/horn-of-africa/
In Southern Africa: https://www.ciwaprogram.org/southern-africa/
All CIWA publications are available on the Cooperation in International Water’s Website at https://www.ciwaprogram.org/resources/
Annual reports
Our latest CIWA Blogs are available here: https://www.ciwaprogram.org/category/blog/
Our latest CIWA Videos are available here: https://www.ciwaprogram.org/category/videos/
Our latest CIWA Podcast are available here: https://www.ciwaprogram.org/category/podcast/
Our latest CIWA Bulletins are available here: https://www.ciwaprogram.org/bulletins/
Partners
CIWA has financial support from the following partners:
• Austrian Development Cooperation
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
• Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
• UK Aid
CIWA funds organizations including governments, river basin organizations, regional economic communities, civil society organizations, and African regional and national institutions in addressing transboundary water management issues and development. Our key partners include:
East Africa
Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)– The 3 NBI centers have worked with CIWA since CIWA’s launch in 2011. They have received two major recipient executed grants, Nile Cooperation for Results and Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience, and several supporting BETFs. In the first phase of collaboration, activities mainly focused on enhancing basin wide water, energy, and food security through CIWA’s 3 Is. Under NCCR, the project is focused more on adaptation and addresses the region’s immediate and long-term climate adaptation issues with floods, droughts, water quality, dam safety and related issues.
Nile Basin Discourse (NBD)– Through the Engaging Civil Society for Social and Climate Resilience in the Nile Basin project (an RETF), NBD strengthened civil society participation in development processes and programs to ensure that their benefits were equitable, contributed to building communities’ climate resilience, and responded to community priorities. The NBD is the only organization in the region with the network, technical expertise, and resources capable of carrying out crucial community-level dialogues. NBD continues to work with CIWA through the Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience project.
Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC)– In 2021, the LVBC joined CIWA as a recipient on the Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience RETF with the NBI and NBD. This was preceded LVBC’s work with CIWA through the Great Lakes Water Quality ASA.
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)– In 2019, CIWA’s Horn of Africa Groundwater Initiative supported IGAD to ramp up technical expertise in groundwater resource management and development and supported five countries (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia) to begin planning for improved regional integration around water security. CIWA’s active Untapping Resilience grant is complementing the regional International Development Association (IDA) funded Groundwater for Resilience Program through enhancing the capacity of implementing entities (especially IGAD) to gather, analyze, and use data to mitigate risk, learn, and adjust, including through state-of-the-art remote monitoring tools.
Government of Somalia– From 2019-2021, CIWA’s grant, Support to a Transboundary Water Resources Management, focused on supporting Somalia’s Ministry of Energy and Water Resources to build the data and information foundation needed for transboundary water cooperation, while building institutional capacity, human capital, and transboundary aquifer knowledge. As noted for IGAD above, Somalia is one of the client countries in the Groundwater for Resilience Program benefitting from CIWA’s Untapping Resilience grant.
West and Central Africa
Niger Basin Authority (NBA)– CIWA has provided support to the Niger River Basin through two projects, including one recipient-executed project, implemented by the NBA, and one bank-executed project. CIWA projects were largely informed by the ‘2007 Sustainable Development Action Plan’ for the Niger Basin. While there is only one CIWA BETF currently active that is relevant to the Niger Basin, it is one of the four priority basins for sustained support and CIWA is looking for opportunities for reengagement at the level of a recipient executed project.
Volta Basin Authority (VBA)– The CIWA project in the Volta River Basin closed in August 2019. During the project, VBA facilitated ratification of a Water Charter to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for sustainable management of basin water and associated environmental resources.
Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC)– CIWA has provided support to the Lake Chad Basin through two Bank-executed ASAs, Lake Chad Dialogue and Lake Chad Transboundary Water Security. The recently completed Water Security Assessment is informing the preparation of new activities.
Senegal River Basin Development Organization (OMVS) (update in progress)
Southern Africa
Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM)– Form 2015-2019 CIWA worked with ZAMCOM to through the Zambezi River Basin Management Project to develop a series of studies and tools that led to creation a decision support system and a Strategic Plan for the Basin.
Zambezi River Authority (ZRA)– Zambezi River Basin Development Project had the objective of advancing the preparation of the Batoka Gorge Hydro-Electric Scheme (HES) and strengthening cooperative development within the ZRB. It principally targeted the technical feasibility and the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) studies, but also included a series of additional technical and legal studies that sustained the preparation of the HES and strengthened the ZRA. This project also ended in 2019.
SADC-Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI)– The SADC-GMI led CIWA’s first active project through the Sustainable Groundwater Management in SADC Member States, which was followed by a phase 2 project that is currently active. The projects operationalized the SADC-GMI as a regional center of excellence for the Region and advanced scientific research on groundwater.
Southern African Development Community (SADC)– The SADC secretariat worked with CIWA’s Southern Africa Drought Resilience Initiative (SADRI) and is now part of the phase 1 Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Climate Resilience Program (RCRP) that CIWA will begin supporting with a BETF this year. The work aimed to build the analytical and institutional foundations to catalyze national and regional investment in integrated drought resilience and to take an integrated and proactive approach to water risks.
Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM)– At the request of OKACOM member states CIWA and OKACOM developed MSIOA tools in the Okavango basin from 2016-2017. This work has resulted in putting forward the endowment fund for Okavango (Cubango Okavango River Basin fund, now being proposed by OKACOM and The Nature Conservancy in 2021).
Africa’s water resources are a huge opportunity to harness for economic growth. The CIWA Program is dedicated to leveraging these resources, as evidenced in its latest Annual Report for 2024 entitled: ‘Facilitating sustainable, inclusive and impactful water management in Africa’s transboundary waters’.
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