Integrated Water Resources Management for the Zambezi riparian countries

The objective of the programme was to build capacity for supporting and consolidating the development process of IWRM in the riparian countries of the Zambezi river basin, including cross border collaboration.

The programme was running between the year 2006 and 2010 with participants from the eight riparian states; Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Considerable efforts to develop a commission for the Zambezi River Basin started in the 1980s. Since then numerous elaborations have been made and on 13th July 2004 "The Agreement for the Establishment of the Zambezi Watercourse Commission" (ZAMCOM) was signed by the riparian countries.

In December 2005 ZACPRO 6:2 arranged a conference entitled "Stakeholder Dialogue, Participation and Networking Initiative for the Development of an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Strategy for the Zambezi River Basin". One of the conference outcomes included the need for capacity development on IWRM to support the development process for the Zambezi River Basin.

This programme were designed for management staff from governmental, non-governmental and private sector organisations involved in water resources development management. It lasted for approximately 9 months where the participants met twice; first three weeks in Sweden and then two weeks in Zambia/Malawi. The programme contributed to the enhanced capacity of riparian countries’ professional staff and organisations to, in a sustainable manner, address the issues and challenges in the management of the Zambezi River Basin. Furthermore the training programme encouraged and stimulated the participants to become involved in dialogue and contribute to regional networking on IWRM.

The IWRM training programme for Zambezi aimed at promoting change processes at different levels in the system and to strengthening the capacity to participate in the discussion around management of the Zambezi basin. An important entry point was a group assignment that were to contribute directly to the understanding of the development in the Zambezi River Basin context. The participants also developed an individual report reflecting over the programme in relation to their own work situation.

The group work was to produce a development plan for a project based on the information that the participants brought with them regarding their country and their organisation, together with the “Integrated Water Resources Management Strategy and Implementation Plan for the Zambezi Basin”. The assignment was a central activity that linked the participants to the subject matter of the training programme and the Zambezi Basin Commission process. The assignment provided the basis for linking lectures, excursions and the participants’ other experiences into a format that made the programme useful for the participants and their home organisation.