Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana is in the process of developing a water investment programme, it has been revealed.
The revelation was made by Ministry of Land and Water Affairs permanent secretary, Dr Kekgonne Baipoledi during a workshop to kick-start Botswana’s accession to the UN Water Convention in Gaborone yesterday.
He said the Botswana Water Investment Programme, which was aligned to the Continental Africa Water Investment Programme, was being developed in collaboration with Global Water Partnership Southern Africa.
The programme would ascribe to national priorities taking into account water sector needs in Botswana, transboundary water cooperation and social inclusion to bridge the investment gap and attain water security for the country, Dr Baipoledi said.
“Primary challenges are centred on water resources availability and increasing water demand pressure that assays our country. It is worth noting that the delivery of water investment is far below target to meet the country’s growing demands or needs,” he said.
Dr Baipoledi said the programme would facilitate transformation and improvement on the investment outlook for water security and sustainable sanitation by leveraging financial resources from various sources, investment mobilisation and cost saving through water sector efficiency.
The key envisaged result from its development and implementation, he said, was mobilisation and leveraging on at least $10.8 billion (more than P146 billion) for climate resilient investments in water, energy, food, ecosystem and health.
Dr Baipoledi said the programme would also enhance job creation through gender sensitive investments, water security projects, industrialisation and climate resilient development.
He said implementation of the continental version of the programme would receive strong in-country commitment at the appropriate levels of government.
The permanent secretary stressed that strong stakeholder involvement and mobilisation of partnerships would be a key element in ensuring the success of the continental programme at country level.
Turning to the subject of the workshop, Dr Baipoledi said Botswana submitted an expression of interest for accession to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, known as the water convention, on March 10.
He said the primary objective for accession was to advance a quest for long term water security as well as peace and stability with regard to trans-boundary water management.
Explaining the benefits of Botswana’s accession, water and sanitation director, Ms Bogadi Mathangwane said they included prevention of water disputes and facilitation of water conflict resolution for the semi-arid country heavily dependent on international waters.
Accession would help promote transparency, information and data sharing among partner states thereby affording the country more chances of aligning itself to the convention’s institutional structures and participating in decision making both at national and international level, she said.
Giving an overview of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Water Convention, Mr Remy Kinna of the commission’s Southern Africa Water Convention, said it was a unique international legal instrument and intergovernmental platform aimed at ensuring sustainable use of trans-boundary water resources.
The convention, he said, was based on and fully in line with customary international law to prevent, control and reduce significant trans-boundary impacts and ensure reasonable utilisation and cooperation principles.
Mr Kinna said UN General Assembly encouraged all UN member states to join the convention with an understanding that its implementation at the global level would be crucial for international peace and prevention of conflicts.
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