Geneva — Côte d'Ivoire has joined the United Nations Water Convention – a treaty to improve joint water management across borders, the UN Economic Commission for Europe said Tuesday.
The move comes as the West African nation faces rising water stress and climate change impacts on the resources it shares with its neighbours.
The 53rd Party to the Convention, Côte d'Ivoire is the 10th African country to join the 1992 Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, known as the 1992 UN Water Convention.
"Côte d'Ivoire's accession is a milestone for multilateralism," said Tatiana Molcean, executive secretary of UNECE, which services the UN Water Convention.
UN Water Convention’s role
"It reaffirms the role of the UN Water Convention as a tool to support water cooperation for peace, sustainable development, and climate change adaptation across borders."
Molcean said she wanted to encourage all countries worldwide to join this proven instrument for water diplomacy.
She reconfirmed UNECE's commitment to support them in this process.
Having Côte d'Ivoire as a signatory further consolidates the strong momentum for water cooperation in Africa, where over 90 percent of water resources are in 63 basins shared by two or more countries.
"We must use transboundary cooperation to reinforce and support relations with countries with which we share water resources," said Côte d'Ivoire Minister of Water and Forest Laurent Tchagba.
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"In our capacity as defenders of water in the context of the peace, and for harmonious and sustainable development in our countries."
Côte d'Ivoire is the 9th largest economy in Africa and 5th fastest growing economy on the continent, sharing eight transboundary river basins (Black Volta, Bia, Tanoé, Comoé, Niger, Sassandra, Cavally et Nuon) with its neighbors.
These include Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The four largest economies of West Africa—Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and Cote d'Ivoire—are now Water Convention Parties.
UNECE said meeting the water needs of Côte d'Ivoire's population of around 30 million, which is growing by 2.5 percent annually, presents significant challenges.
Its water resources are threatened by urbanization and climate change impacts, including drought and flooding.
At the same time, water quality is deteriorating due to agricultural and industrial waste pollution, illegal gold panning, and untreated wastewater.
According to UNCE, water resources are also unevenly distributed across the country, with areas of water stress in the north and northeast.
Since the global opening of this treaty to all UN Member States in 2016, Chad, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Togo, and Cameroon became the first African nations to accede.
