Gaborone, 21st February, 2016 – Botswana is scheduled to host two meetings for the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM).
The first meeting is the ZAMCOM Technical Committee (ZAMTEC) on 23 February, 2016 followed by the meeting for the ZAMCOM Council of Ministers on 25 February 2016. The ZAMCOM Council of Ministers meeting is held to mainly adopt and provide policy guidance or approve recommendations from the ZAMTEC.
ZAMCOM is a river basin organization set up through the ZAMCOM Agreement by the eight riparian states that share the Zambezi River Basin. ZAMCOM promotes and coordinates the cooperative management and development of the Zambezi Watercourse in a sustainable, climate resilient manner. The eight riparian states are Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The ZAMCOM agreement was signed in 2004 at Kasane in Botswana and came into force in 2011. Its Secretariat is hosted by Zimbabwe.
The main items to be discussed by the two meetings are progress of implementation of the ZAMCOM activities; the ZAMCOM 2016/17 Work Plan and Budget; Rules and Procedures for the sharing of information and data among the Riparian States; and Consultants reports on various matters.
The ZAMCOM Council of Ministers is the supreme body of the organization while the ZAMTEC is tasked with implementing policies and decisions of the Council and the ZAMCOM Secretariat (ZAMSEC) provides technical and administrative services to the council under the supervision of ZAMTEC.
As part of its activities, the Secretariat is expected to develop a Strategic Plan for the Zambezi watercourse that will identify, categorise and prioritise investment projects and programmes for managing and developing the water and related resources of the basin. The plan will be used as a reliable and accepted basis for decision making on investments.
The Secretariat is also expected to operationalise the key provisions of the ZAMCOM Agreement. Some of the key provisions include rules of notification and prior consultation on planned measures/projects; procedures for information and data exchange; the collection and dissemination of information and data in support of improved planning and decision making for the sustainable management and development of the basin; and fostering greater awareness among the inhabitants of the Zambezi Watercourse on the equitable and reasonable utilisation and the efficient management and sustainable development of the resources of the basin.
The ZAMCOM Secretariat is financially supported by the riparian states and a number of cooperating partners including the Danish Government through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Development Cooperation (DANIDA), GIZ, and the World Bank.
For More Information, Contact:
The ZAMCOM Secretariat, 128 Samora Machel Avenue, P.O. Box CY 118, Harare, Zimbabwe. Tel: +263 – 4 – 253361/2/3; Voip: +263 8677000313. Or 267 77885450 (temporaly in Botswana); Email: zamcom@zambezicommission.org or leonissah@zambezicommission.org; website: www.zambezicommission.org.