Two-tier water governance in
the Nile River Basin
Gaia Sinnona
Introduction
Transboundary rivers constitue an indissoluble link that connects national governments and communities. They raise problem of sovereignty
on a national resource, water, that can not be totally subjected to countries policies, because it is a common good shared with the other riparian
states. Water management by riparian states is influenced by asymmetries in power. Egoistic policies of upstream countries, threating water
security for downstream countries, could lead to conflicts, armed or diplomatic. However when the strongest or leading country of a region is
downstream, it is easier that cooperation and shared benefits are seen as more convenient for all riparian states and water is managed on
equity basis. This is the case of the Nile River Basin, where the stongest country, Egypt, that depends on the Nile for the 95% of its total water
needs, pushed to overcome rivelries and to move towards cooperation.
The Nile River governance has two directions: top-down through inter-governamental cooperation and bottom-up through a network of civil
society organizations.
Case study: The Nile River
After the end of the Cold War a long process of negotiations among riparian states brought to
various step of cooperation on the management of the Nile River.
1967-1992 Hydromet
1992-1999 TeccoNile
1999- now Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)
Nile Basin Initiative(NBI)
Inter-governamental organization, established in 1999.
Members: all the nine riparian countries plus Eritrea as observer.
Nile-COM the governing body, composed by national ministers; Nile-SEC with the responsability of
continuing the cooperation, Nile-TAC providing technical guidance. National NBI Focal Point institution
to facilitate coordination of NBI’s projects at supra national level and as a forum at in-country level.
The Shared Vision ” to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable
utilization of and benefit from the common. Nile Basin water resources”.
SPA is composed by two programs: Shared Vision Program, comprised by eight basin-wide projects, and
the Subsidiary Action Program, managed at a lowest local level: Eastern Nile and Nile Equatorial Lakes.
Institutional
response
2006: Memorandum of Understanding between NBI and NBD to facilitate engagements and
collaborations. The MoU has been renewed for other 3 years in February 2010, with the aim to
“exchange information, collaborate in the development projects and activities, improve mutual
benefit of the existing cooperation amongst all stakeholders and co-operate in identifying strategic
alliances that promote social and development equity.”
Collective
action
In 2000 years civil society began to organize their participation in the Nile river water management.
Thanks to the investments by IUCN, WB, WWF and CIDA a Discourse Desk was established in
Entebbe, Uganda.
Nile Basin Discourse (NBD)
NBD is a civil society network, formally launched in 2003.
It is open to all civil society organizations, involved in the Nile basin.
At present members are 1200.
It has been created to influence policy on the Nile management, especially to “strengthen the voice of
civil society in development projects and programmes of the NBI and to ensure that NBI responded to
the development of local communities by establishing benefit-sharing processes that will contribute
significantly to more equitable and sustainable outcomes for poor people in the basin”.
Nile River
Length: (from White Nile Source to Mouth) 6695km
Sources: The White Nile: Lake Victoria, Uganda.
The Blue Nile : Lake Tana, Ethiopia.
Flow Rate: 300 million m3/day
Riparian countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan,
Tanzania, Uganda.
River basin area: 3,349,000 Km2
Source: NBI web site
Conclusion
NBI is a diplomatic success: it is the demonstration that cooperative management at the governmental level can work. It is the best institutional
response not only to avoid conflicts, but also to bring benefits to all members involved and to attract investments.
Many positive achievements have been reached by the NBI, including improved knowledge and exchange of data on the river’s water resources; a
raised stakeholders awareness; and cooperation and capacity building also at the local level.
However, the key for success of inter-governmental cooperation is the willingness of the leading country situated downstream, which is the
inescapable element to reach a diplomatic agreement among the riparian states.
An institutional initiative always requires public support and civil control to be able to work in the long term. The NBD, by providing a platform for
stakeholders, enhances partnerships between public, private and civil society sectors. Moreover, thanks to the information system established
by NBD, stakeholders’ level of participation and understanding has increased.
Water security could be maintained until for governments it is more convenient than conflict. In the meantime, cooperation at the local level
among civil society organizations, through sharing of data and best practices, brings benefits, thus averting the seeds of discord.
Gaia Sinnona
Milan, Italy
[email protected]