Transboundary Water Management for the Lake Victoria Region

The overall objective of this programme was to strengthen institutions for transboundary water management in the Lake Victoria region.

The programme was running between the years 2006 and 2010 with participants from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

These programmes were designed for management staff from governmental, non-governmental and private sector organisations involved in water resources development management. The programme lasted for approximately 9 months where the participants met twice; first two weeks in Kenya/Rwanda and then one week in Sweden.

Key features of the programme were the start-up workshops and the Individual Projects (IPs). The start-up workshop was the beginning of the programme. It was the sole responsibility of the participant to plan and realize the workshop and coordinate with the Programme Facilitation Team member participating in the workshop. Each participant had to carry out an IP of a transboundary water management case within his/her country or region, in which the participant was directly engaged through his/her professional duties. The IP provided the basis for linking lectures, excursions and other experiences into a format that made the programme useful for their home organisations.

Water is essential for human development and livelihood support systems. Transcending political, administrative and cultural boundaries, the available freshwater and the benefits it generates must be shared among individuals, economic sectors, intrastate jurisdictions and sovereign nations.

A dialogue on water and its associated benefits and its role in development provides a means for building trust among the parties in a region. Ultimately shared water resources implies an opportunity of influencing regional politics in the direction of increased regional co-operation to lay a foundation for social and political stability, economic prosperity and poverty alleviation.

The TWM Lake Victoria training programme provided a meeting place for professionals involved in water issues in the Lake Victoria region, with the aim at building both personal and institutional bridges. The training programme further drew on regional and global experience from transboundary water resources management and discussed legal frameworks and novel techniques for enhancing the broad benefits of shared waters.