Database helps SA keep pledges to neighbours

Abstract

Transboundary river basins The easy-to-access database stemmed from a Water Research Commission (WRC) funded project into South Africa’s cross-border freshwater agreements. The project was undertaken jointly by CSIR and the African Water Issues Research Unit (AWIRU). South Africa has signed and ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, which promotes the principles of equitable and reasonable utilisation and the obligation not to cause significant harm (to downstream states). Additionally, the convention calls for the establishment of a framework for the exchange of data and information, the protection and preservation of shared water bodies, the creation of joint management mechanisms, and the settlement of disputes. South Africa shares four main international resources with its neighbours, namely the Incomati, Orange, Limpopo and Maputo rivers.

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