2 November 2015: Parties to the UN Watercourses Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (the Watercourses Convention) discussed the future management of the Convention, which does not have an institutional structure, such as a Secretariat or a Conference of the Parties (COP), during an informal gathering. Parties agreed to continue discussing the Convention’s organization and to encourage ratification of the Convention by other countries.

Germany, Finland and the Netherlands organized the informal gathering of the Parties to the Convention, which took place at UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris, France, from 15-16 September. Twenty-two of the Conventions’ 36 Parties attended the meeting. Non-party participants, including representatives from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations, joined on the second day.

The gathering considered whether the UN Watercourses Convention best serves its purposes as a compilation of rules on transboundary cooperation in international watercourses or whether the Convention needs an institutional structure to maintain active, continuous cooperation among its Parties. Participants stressed the need for cooperation on transboundary watercourses and for connecting global and regional framework agreements with operations on the ground. They also shared their experiences with existing transboundary water cooperation, including through the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses and the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Water Convention.

Participants concluded that more time is needed to consider and discuss the future management of the Convention. Parties agreed to keep an email list to enable the exchange of views and proposed organizing future gatherings back-to-back with global and regional water events. Participants will share information about the gathering at the Seventh Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the UNECE Water Convention.

Parties agreed to continue promoting the UN Watercourses Convention worldwide, recognizing that many countries are still not Parties to this Convention or other framework conventions on transboundary water cooperation.

The UN Watercourses Convention entered into force in August 2014, creating a global, legally binding framework for inter-state cooperation on water issues. [German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety Press Release] [Informal Gathering Report] [SADC Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses Website] [UNECE Water Convention Website]