Page 6 - CIWA 2.0

CIWA 2.0: A Decade of Cooperation on Climate-Resilient Development

A decade of cooperation on

climate-resilient development

Regional challenges and their causes require regional cooperation to solve, especially in transboundary
waters, which are shared by so many countries.

In 2011, Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and development partners came together with the vision of
sparking greater cooperation among nations sharing transboundary waters. The Cooperation in International
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Waters in Africa (CIWA) program was founded as a multi-donor trust fund managed by the World Bank.
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CIWA was created to foster cooperation, protect biodiversity, help countries beset by conflict and
fragility, and spur climate resilience to achieve shared prosperity and growth. It accomplishes this by
advancing its three pillars known as the three Is: information—to understand risks, make better
decisions, and monitor resources; institutions—to build trust, coordinate planning, and manage shared
resources; and investments (formerly infrastructure)—to manage watersheds, develop groundwater
resources, and build storage.

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Information CIWA supports shared data, knowledge, and analytical tools to enable timely, transparent,
and regionally beneficial decision making and effective information platforms for risk management and
water resources management (WRM).

Institutions CIWA strengthens adaptable regional institutions that provide WRM services to countries
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amid growing weather variability and climate change. Effective institutions enable riparian countries to
manage shared risks and harness the benefits of cooperation.

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Investments CIWA influences investments by improving technical and resource mobilization capacity,
coordinated investment planning, and inclusive stakeholder engagement to enhance and advance
equitable regional projects. Regionally beneficial investments generate socioeconomic benefits and

inclusive poverty reduction.
CIWA assists riparian governments to address constraints to cooperative water resources
management and development, with the goal of unlocking the potential for sustainable, climate-
resilient growth. By supporting countries to work together to share information, strengthen institutions,
and advance sustainable investments, CIWA enables them to use their transboundary water resources
more productively and equitably, protect people and property from water-related shocks, and ensure
sustainability of the resource. Its investments help spur economic growth that creates jobs and
improves livelihoods, and its technical assistance strengthens water resources governance and policies
that can create the enabling conditions for further economic development and job creation.

A cooperative approach to managing collective risks and equitably sharing socioeconomic benefits
presents countries with opportunities to reduce resource-related conflict and strengthen regional
integration, which contribute to sustainable economic growth, poverty reduction, and resilience to
climate change. CIWA has three modalities to fulfill its mandate: (i) sustained engagements with priority
basins to help strengthen foundational elements such as data, agreements, institutions, and investment
and operation plans; (ii) strategic engagements to contribute to high-impact outcomes through
analytical effort, capacity building, and technical assistance; and (iii) knowledge generation and
management initiatives to strengthen the evidence base to create tools to manage international waters.

1 C ontributing partners include the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the European Commission, the Norwegian Agency for
Development Cooperation (NORAD), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
1 and the United Kingdom’s (UK) De partment for International Development (DFID)/ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

CIWA is the successor to the Nile Basin Trust Fund.
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