By invitation only

Since the global opening of the Water Convention in 2016, more than 10 countries from outside the Pan-European region have joined, mostly from Africa, and more than 20 are in the process of accession. The process of accession has allowed Parties to identify and recognize specific needs and priorities for development of cooperation and management of shared basins, national water governance, and investments.

These needs and priorities can be addressed with solutions using domestic resources at national level, often complemented by solutions that can be proposed by financial and technical partners and more experienced Parties alike.

Given its high-level political nature, the 10th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention (MOP 10) taking place n 23-25  October 2024 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, provides a useful framework and platform for new Parties to present identified needs and priorities, and for technical and financial partners to announce concrete support to advance transboundary water cooperation and management in these countries.

In order to provide a dedicated space to do so, the secretariat will organize on 22 October 2024  (one day priori to MOP 10), a match-making event aimed at accelerating transboundary cooperation and the implementation of the Water Convention in new Parties through increased support and partnership.

Objectives of the event:

The match-making event aims to support new Parties and those close to accession in implementing the Water Convention and accelerating transboundary water cooperation by identifying partners and resources before and during the event to further support implementation plans and related projects. The event will facilitate matchmaking between new Parties to the Water Convention and interested partners for (transboundary) water cooperation activities/projects, and possible twinning between experienced Parties and new Parties. It will also pave the way for longer-term mobilization of resources and partners.

More specifically the event aims to:

- Match needs and priority areas for transboundary water cooperation and management  with existing support and resources opportunities to accelerate transboundary water cooperation;

- Showcase national implementation plans for the Water Convention and concrete project proposals prepared by the 11 new Parties countries supported in the framework of this event;

- Sparkle reactions from and discussions with partners and experienced Parties, ideally resulting in expressions of interest from technical and financial partners (matching needs with support and resources);

- Discuss how different experienced Parties and partners can support implementation of the Water Convention in new Parties through different approaches i.e. twinning, funding/financing projects, technical exchanges;

- Facilitate South-South Cooperation, i.e. support and cooperation between different new Parties to the Water Convention; 

- Provide opportunities for discussions and exchanges between technical and financial partners and recipient countries including on concrete project proposals and ideas.

Target audience:

The match-making is by invitation only and targets:

- All new Parties to the Water Convention and some countries close to accession (e.g. Zambia, Costa Rica, etc.); as well as River Basin Organizations (RBOs) to which these countries are members;

- Established Parties to the Convention, which could be represented by their development cooperation agencies, technical ministries and/or ministries responsible for development cooperation assistance such as DG INTPA, AFD, GIZ/BMZ, AICS, SDC, SIDA, AECID, NORAD, ENABEL, DANIDA; Slovenia, Netherlands, Finland and/or others, depending on interest;

- International Financial Institutions: including World Bank, EIB, ADB, IADB, AfDB, GEF, Adaptation fund, GCF; and technical partners such as UNCDF, UNDP, UNEP, IUCN, GWP and other relevant GEF executing agencies, GEF IW:LEARN;

- Representatives from the private finance sector or organizations working with the private sector (e.g. CDP, UNEP-Fi) interested in better understanding and supporting transboundary water cooperation and management.