The Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) program has announced several new initiatives under the World Bank’s Regional Climate Resilience Program for Eastern and Southern Africa Series of Projects, aimed at enhancing resilience to water-related climate shocks. These initiatives include the launch of the Strengthening Transboundary River Basin Organizations through Program Development and Capacity Building in Africa and the South Sudan Transboundary Waters Support Program.
The South Sudan program will focus on climate risk and water resources management in refugee hosting areas, identifying and addressing gaps in current water-related initiatives to ensure effective and efficient delivery of water needs for refugees and host communities. This effort will also emphasize the role of biodiversity and ecosystem services in contributing to resilience by establishing a freshwater biodiversity baseline and assessing anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems in the Sudd wetland.
Additionally, CIWA is acting on its Multi-Sector Investment Opportunity Analysis (MSIOA) recommendations for the Cubango-Okavango River Basin by introducing the Resilient Livelihoods Enhancement Program. This initiative targets the underlying drivers of poverty with a pro-poor focus, aiming to increase community benefits while preserving biodiversity integrity.
CIWA has also launched technical assistance for the Lake Kariba Transboundary Fisheries in the Zambezi River Basin, addressing the severe decline in water levels caused by droughts, which has severely impacted food security and livelihoods dependent on the lake.
To further its efforts, CIWA has developed a revised Theory of Change and a new Results Framework called Pathways to Impact, incorporating enhanced strategies for biodiversity, climate resilience, gender and social inclusion, and addressing fragility, conflict, and violence. CIWA has also created frameworks for Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV), Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), and Biodiversity and Conservation, as well as conducted a climate change assessment. This assessment revealed that six major hydropower investments influenced by CIWA have the potential to mitigate 26.4 million tons of CO₂ equivalent (tCO2eq) of GHG emissions annually.
These comprehensive efforts reflect CIWA’s commitment to building resilience, enhancing biodiversity, and improving the lives of communities across Eastern and Southern Africa.