Background

With a view to possible accession, a national workshop will be jointly convened by the Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation of Zambia and the Secretariat of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) serviced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on 26 and 27 May in Lusaka, Zambia to raise broader awareness of the Convention and develop a road map for accession. 

Purpose

The general objective of the workshop is to inform stakeholders about the Water Convention, to share about the processes initiated by Government of Zambia to become party to the Water Convention and to discuss the next steps in the accession process. 

Specifically, the workshop will: 

• Inform stakeholders about the Water Convention; 
• Identify the benefits, possible advantages and strategic objectives of a possible accession to the Convention for Zambia; 
• Inform about the accession process, benefits and implementation by new African Parties; 
• Discuss the practical implementation of the Water Convention to meet the challenges of water resource management in Zambia, based on the experience of existing Parties; 
• Present the initiatives started by the Ministry of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection as part of Zambia's accession process to the Water Convention; 
• Arrange a Question and Answer session on frequently asked questions from stakeholders about the Water Convention; 
• Discuss the next steps and road map in the accession process and the contribution of this process to Zambia's transboundary and national water management. 

Expected Results

The expected results pursued through this workshop are: 

• Stakeholders are informed about the cooperation framework of the Water Convention at the global level and discuss the future engagement of Zambia with the Convention’s Programme of Work 2022-24; 
• The advantages for States to become party to the Water Convention are presented; 
• Update on the efforts initiated for Zambia’s accession to the Convention is presented; 
• The actors are informed on the next steps of the accession process and the contribution of this process to Zambia's national water management and transboundary water cooperation are discussed; 
• Actors define a roadmap, with key milestones agreed, for accession to the Water Convention.