Addressing water management challenges in Nile Basin  Key to achieving the SDGs 11 countries with total population over 415 Million  doubling every 20 – 25 years so far 2030 Fast growing economies  rapidly growing demands for energy, water Shared river basin with scarce, finite water resources facing climatic uncertainty  Technical solution to water management challenges can be effectively implemented only under enabling legal, policy and institutional frameworks (?) (?)

Enabling legal, policy and institutional frameworks … for effective implementation of technical solutions Paving the ground for effective cooperation  conducive atmosphere for investment and reduced development cost Mechanisms for peaceful resolution of conflicts  key pre-requisite for sustainability of water resources management in a shared river basin Common standards for environmental and social safeguards  minimization of impacts on ecosystems and their services to people’s livelihoods; environmental sustainability,.. Effective consultation and notification mechanisms  optimization of basin-wide water resources use Data and information sharing and exchange  maximization of benefits from water management interventions, reduction of impacts of extremes (floods, droughts, pollution emergencies, etc) Provisions for joint management and development plans  provide avenues for efficient water resources allocation and maximization of benefits to all; no-borders perspective. ??

Duty To Cooperate Prevention of significant harm Equitable and Reasonable Utilization Notification and consultation mechanisms Development & implementation of TB Management Plans Information and data sharing mechanisms Harmonization of TB Water Agreements Standards of Environmental and Social Protection X X Scoping the discussion….the themes

The Nile Basin Region …. the constellation Egypt Sudan South Sudan Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Uganda Tanzania DR Congo Burundi Rwanda CountriesNBIIGADEAC/LVBCSADC Burundi√√ DR Congo√√ Egypt√ Eritrea√√√ Ethiopia√√ Kenya√√√ Rwanda√√ South Sudan√√√ Sudan√√√ Tanzania√√√√ Uganda√√√ Constellations of Regional legal, policy and institutional frameworks

The Nile Basin Initiative … The Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) Agreement on Declaration of Principles (Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan) The Nile Basin Sustainability Framework (NBSF) The NBI Environment and Social Policy The NBI Climate Change Strategy The NBI Wetlands Management Strategy The NBI River Basin Monitoring Strategy The NBI Environmental Flow Guidance (under preparation) The NBI Interim Procedures for Data and Information Sharing and Exchange The NBI Project Information Disclosure procedures (under preparation) Eastern Nile and Nile Equatorial Lakes Multi-Sector Investment Strategy/Plans Member countries’ water laws and policies

IGAD region The IGAD region covers an area of 5.2 million square km and has a total population of. 140 million spread in the countries of Djibouti. Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. Five IGAD member countries are also members of the Nile Basin Initiative (Eritrea (observer), Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda). Several river basins in IGAD region Key instruments: IGAD Inland Water Resources Management Program(INWRMP )  Regional Water Policy and Water Policy and Legal Framework Regional Water Policy: endorsed by council of minister's of water affairs (March 2015) IGAD region Water Protocol (work in progress) River-basin specific frameworks expected to be developed subsequently

LVBC (EAC) EAC Protocol on Environment and Natural Resources Management was developed and signed on 3 rd April, 2006 by all the EAC Partners States; ratification not yet complete.  Protocol on sustainable development of LVB which was signed in 2003 and ratified a year later in 2004 provides the most explicit policy document that support management and development of transboundary natural resources  Unfortunately, most of the national laws are often in variance and therefore, the urgent need to review and harmonize them to ease of implementation by the basin countries.  Policies and strategies developed by the LVBC include: LV Transport Act (2007) and regulations (2010), New Water Release and Abstraction Policy, Water Effluent Standards, Sustainable Land Management Strategies etc  Commission has facilitated in the signing of MOU for the joint management of Mara River Basin and Lake Chala – Jipe and Umba river ecosystems and is on the process of finalizing one for the joint implementation selected activities in the Mt Elgon including nomination of Mt Elgon as a Regional Transboundary Biosphere Reserve.

Looking forward …. 1. Key substantive principles are generally agreed upon … however Implementation challenges: translating policies/protocols into practice 3. Case specific instruments such as the EN – GERD vs comprehensive framework (CFA) – how to harness the synergy ? 4. Reconciling the different approaches between national and the several regional/basin-wide policies (IGAD – NBI – National) 5. Fast tracking implementation on specific cases – operationalizing the principles that are already agreed upon – learning by doing