The Rovuma River Basin countries – Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania – on 31 July signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Dar es Salaam in pursuit of stronger cooperation in water management. The MoU will be the reference point for further discussions on basin management cooperation efforts in general, the crafting of a basin treaty and the establishment of River Basin Organisation in particular. The riparian states are receiving support from the SADC, working with the GIZ-TWM, IUCN, GWPSA and WaterNet,
The governments of Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania intend to maximise their contributions to the mutual management of the resources of the Rovuma River Basin.
The memorandum, signed on Wednesday in Dares Salaam, foresees the strengthening of cooperation in matters of use, development, protection, conservation and sustainable management of the Rovuma River Basin, a press release issued by the Mozambican Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources reads.
Shared by the three countries, the Rovuma River Basin extends for 760 km, 650 km of which serves as the border between Mozambique and Tanzania. It is rich in aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity, in particular the 42,400 square kilometre Niassa National Reserve, which covers parts of the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Niassa, whose development is likely to be boosted by the implementation of the Integrated Transboundary Water Resources Management.
The agreement was signed during the meeting of the Council of Ministers for the Rovuma Basin by Carlos Mesquita, Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources; Jumaa Hamido Aweso, Minister of Water of Tanzania; and Abida Sidik Mia, Minister of Water and Sanitation of Malawi. The agreement serves as a platform for cooperation partners, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and member states to assess the progress of the basin roadmap and discuss the implementation of the subsequent project, financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
At the ceremony, the Mozambican government was represented by the Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Carlos Mesquita, who said that the agreement would bring numerous advantages to the three countries, namely the openness of member states to the development of regional projects, as well as the possibility of mobilising financing for their implementation, resulting in economic and social benefits for the communities living along the Rovuma Basin.
Minister Mesquita further highlighted that the Rovuma River basin was almost unparalleled in the SADC region as being among the few shared basins that are still in their natural conditions, that is, without storage infrastructure (dams).
“This river basin is rich in aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity, and a large part of it is still intact, especially in Mozambique, where the Rovuma flows through the provinces of Niassa and Cabo Delgado,” Minister Mesquita said.
“In this sense, Mozambique considers that there are many challenges for its management, with emphasis on the sustainable use and guarantee of water supply to the main water-using sectors, the vulnerability associated with water (floods and droughts), water quality and health of the aquatic ecosystem, as well as good water governance and implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management, from the perspective of transboundary water management,” he added.
These challenges “increase the need to adopt structural and non-structural measures, which require cooperative actions between the riparian states. In the current context of climate change, in which our region was hit by El Niño, we hope that the ongoing initiative will help to create and promote integrated and sustainable resource management through the implementation of measures to guarantee water safety in the Rovuma river basin, in order to mitigate the occurrence of water-borne diseases, such as COVID-19 and diarrhoeal diseases, and mitigate the impacts resulting from water scarcity”.
Cooperation between the three countries also extends to the Zambezi River basin, with the creation of the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM) in 2024. Malawi has however not yet ratified the agreement establishing the commission.
Source: http://surl.li/sizmyk
Image Credit: Club of Mozambique
