Page 70 - CIWA AR25

Cross-Cutting Themes: Support to FCV-affected Regions

SUPPORT TO

FCV-AFFECTED

REGIONS

Nearly half of all countries listed by the World Bank as fragile CIWA’s vision for its support to FCV‑affected people is that

and conflict‑affected in FY25 are in Sub‑Saharan Africa— investing in cooperative management of transboundary

and FCV worsened there in the last fiscal year, with several waters in basins grappling with FCV will ease tensions,
regions experiencing persistent and, in some cases, escalating promote stability, and build resilience to water shocks. CIWA’s
instability. The Sahel, Lake Chad, and Great Lakes regions FCV Framework provides step-by-step guidance to enhance

continued to contain epicenters of violence, with conflicts the effectiveness of CIWA-funded activities in FCV-affected
crossing borders and affecting neighboring states. Humanitarian areas. There is a direct but complex interplay between FCV, GESI,
emergencies worsened, driven by ongoing conflict, entrenched climate change, biodiversity, and political economy that requires

poverty, and mass displacement, with millions of people affected integrated approaches to development, and transboundary
and record numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons, WRM and development exist at their intersection. The FCV
especially from the civil war in Sudan. Framework also recognizes that women and other vulnerable
populations tend to be more negatively affected in FCV contexts
Non‑state armed groups expanded their activities, and state and are often underutilized change agents.
responses were often insufficient or marred by human rights

abuses. The Central Sahel, eastern DRC, and Somalia saw violence,

with independent monitors reporting intensified fighting. The
Alliance of Sahel States (Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger) accelerated
its institutional realignment away from ECOWAS, while violence
intensified and pushed toward coastal West African states.

With many threats to economic growth and prosperity
related to national and transboundary waters (e.g., migration,

floods, droughts, food insecurity), CIWA is well‑positioned
to support African governments that are addressing FCV‑
related challenges. CIWA’s nimble operational mechanisms,
technical expertise, and convening power make the program a
core resource to address some of the most complex challenges
in water security. CIWA primarily works with regional institutions
and therefore can continue WRM and development efforts
even in basins where some Member States are temporarily,
intermittently, or even consistently affected by FCV. For
example, the NBI has supported the Nile basin through many

transitions of Member States in and out of FCV and influenced

mobilized investments that directly benefit FCV-affected
countries. This is only possible by sustaining long-term support
and leveraging the abilities of higher-capacity basin partners.
CIWA often complements recipient-executed projects that
are complex or in difficult locations with Bank-executed

grants so that the World Bank team can maximally support
implementation and help partner institutions address their
weaknesses and enhance capacity.

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