27 February 2018: On 22 February, Chad submitted its instruments of accession to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), becoming the first country outside the pan-European region to accede to the Convention, which is serviced by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

In March 2016, the Water Convention became a global multilateral legal and intergovernmental framework for transboundary water cooperation, open to accession by all UN Member States. Cooperation under the Water Convention contributes to progress towards SDG target 6.5 in particular, which calls for action, by 2030, to” implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation.”

Chad shares water resources with six neighboring countries — Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan. Its accession to the Convention builds on cooperation with these countries, and Chad has committed to promote the Convention among the countries of basins to which it belongs, including the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Niger Basin Authority. Sidick Abdelkerim Haggar, Minister of Environment, Water and Fisheries, emphasized the transboundary nature of Chad’s surface waters and aquifer system as reasons for “the need for our country to join the Water Convention, which provides a framework for cooperation and exchange at the regional and international levels.”

Accessions enter into force 90 days following the deposit if the instruments of accession, which means that Chad will participate as a Party in the eighth Meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention, which will conceve in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 10-12 October 2018. [UNECE Press Release]