The Water Convention offers a global legal and institutional framework for sustainable management of transboundary water resources and for the promotion of transboundary cooperation. After announcing its interest in joining the Convention in 2012, Tunisia established a national committee in 2016 to study the implications of accession.<\/p>\n
The National Workshop on 21 and 22 September, co-organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, GWP-MED and UNECE, brought together about 40 participants from various ministries, civil society and academia as well as experts; and addressed both legal and practical aspects of the Convention\u2019s implementation. The obligations under the Convention and the benefits of accession were presented, as well as possible challenges, combined with examples of the Convention\u2019s implementation on the ground. Experts from Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal and Romania shared their experience and provided clarifications on the legal framework.<\/p>\n
During the workshop, the Tunisian Secretary of State for Water Resources and Fisheries recalled that: “Water resources in Tunisia are an increasingly scarce resource. Therefore, Tunisia confirms the need to set up Conventions and appropriate mechanisms to manage this resource in order to strengthen cooperation and good neighbourly relations and to contribute to peace and stability in the region.”<\/p>\n
Tunisia shares several transboundary surface water and groundwater basins with Algeria as well as an extensive fossil aquifer with Algeria and Libya \u2014 the North-Western Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS or SASS). In 2002, the three countries decided to establish a “consultation mechanism” for the NWSAS system, which aims to “coordinate, promote and facilitate the rational management of NWSAS water resources”. The mechanism, which started in 2008, is the first structure dedicated to a transboundary aquifer in the region and one of the few existing in the world.<\/p>\n
Participants recommended developing a global integrated strategic vision to strengthen transboundary cooperation between Tunisia and its neighbours, integrating the technical, legal and political dimensions and drawing upon means of actions at all levels, global, multilateral and bilateral.<\/p>\n
Participants at the workshop concluded that the Water Convention provides a solid global framework for transboundary cooperation between Tunisia and its neighbours and that Tunisia is able to implement the provisions of the Convention. Acceding to the Convention offers many benefits for Tunisia, including the defence of its rights and the definition of its obligations on the basis of international law, capacity-building and the ability to access funding for transboundary water management. Tunisia can also contribute to the community of the Parties of the Convention, especially with its experience in drought management. Based on these discussions and further analysis, Tunisia will take a decision on the ratification of the Water Convention. Its accession should in particular help to strengthen cooperation with its neighbours, especially Algeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tunisian officials discussed the country\u2019s possible accession to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) during a national workshop “Benefits of cooperation and the UNECE Water Convention”, held in Tunis on 21 and 22 September 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"iawp_total_views":3,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive","category-news"],"acf":[],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_sidebar_content":["field_69d4d421acab1"],"sidebar_content":["