At the recent Global Forum on Transboundary Water Cooperation for Climate and Development hosted by the World Bank in Washington, D.C., River Basin Organizations (RBOs) from all continents came together to share lessons and learn from each other.
Leave India-Pakistan and Russia-Ukraine aside, countries across the world have joined hands to prevent water conflicts. A Strategic Foresight Group report concludes that countries engaged in active water cooperation do not go to war for any reason whatsoever. Attacks on infrastructure and terrorism are primary threats to disturbing ‘blue peace.
The World Bank’s engagement in transboundary waters in West Africa is at a turning point, at a time when the G5 Sahel countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger are facing unprecedented challenges.
Over the last 20 years, the World Bank has invested US$714 million in 10 regional projects in the four major transboundary river basins in West Africa Senegal, Niger, Lake Chad, and Volta.