UNESCO Transboundary

Water Experience: FRIEND/Nile

byDr. Abdelaziz Zaki

UNESCO Cairo

Challenges in the Nile

South Sudan

source: website of the NBI

The transboundary Nile Basin: interaction of population growth, water scarcity and regional conflict.

Rapid population growth, 263 million =40% of the African, half of which is estimated to live in the Nile Basin

>70% depend on agriculture….Fragile to natural shocks (floods, droughts)

Environmental degradation, drought, weak institutions, low financial capacity, inadequate infrastructure and social instability are major constraints

DRC

Ethio

pia

Rwanda

Tanza

nia

0

20

40

60

80

100

Population (million)

Mill

ion

Networking

• Regional research teams / Young scientist

Institutional and human Capacity building

• Over 200 experts, including female experts and young scientists, from the Nile basin benefited from the project.

Trust building / Research cooperation / Change from data sharing to research outputs/results sharing

• About 50 research project were implemented which were base for a number of suggested water resources management projects in the participating countries.

FRIEND/Nile ProjectFunded thru the UNESCO-Flanders Science Cooperation

Good Practice

Hydrologic Modeling

Dar es SalaamTanzania

Erosion & Sediment Transport Modeling

KhartoumSudan

StochasticModeling

NairobiKenya

Integrated Water Resources Management

WRRI - Egypt

Capacity Building, Knowledge Transfer, Networking & Experience Exchange

Eco-hydrology

KampalaUganda

Output Example: GLASOD map of The

Nile basin

For Better Water Resources Management of the Nile Water Resources, an Integrated System Capacity Building for all Stakeholders is needed…..

Water engineers and scientist

Water Negotiators

Public at large

Economists Sociologists

Environmentalists

Legal specialist

Decision makers

Future Perspective

How to shift from

Integrated Water Management interests

to

Integrated basin management vision (Land, Water, Natural Resources,….etc)

Incorporating economic social, environment, sustainable development at basin scale

Future Perspective

Promote Water Diplomacy counting on Soft Power

• Public Diplomacy• Dialogue Parliamentarians, civil

society/NGOs• Shared Media programs

Transboundary Water Negotiation:Water Engineers and/or Diplomats

Transboundary Water Management: Negotiation Capacity Building

How to Waterize Diplomats.…….Dipolmatize Water Engineers…..

Future Perspective

Capacity Building and Networking among the Nile stakeholders: water scientists, experts, water negotiators, civil society association/public at large, economists, sociologists, environmentalists, legal specialist, are powerful tools in enhancing and addressing the common problems, and thus introduce sustainable and workable solutions to these problem.

Thanks for your kind attention