Stockholm, 26th August, 2026 – The third day of the NBA Delegation’s participation in World Water Week 2026 was marked by the active involvement of the Executive Secretary, H.E. Kocou Armand HOUANYE, in two high-level international Sessions devoted to the future of Transboundary Basin Organisations (TBOs) for resilient sustainable development and the improvement of people’s living conditions.
The other members of the NBA Executive Secretariat’s Delegation are: (i) Mr. Tanimoun Bachir Alkali, Hydrologist and SATH-NBA Project Coordinator, and Ms. Hanna Albrecht, the GIZ “Support to NBA” Project Manager.

The first Session, entitled “Leaders’ Table: Resilient River Basin Organisations for People and Progress”, gathered the Heads of Delegations of several TBOs (NBA, LCBC, MRC, NBI, OKACOM) and partner institutions (BMZ, GIZ, ICPDR, IHE Delft).

Taking part in the discussions, the NBA Executive Secretary outlined the main pressures currently affecting the Niger Basin, which is shared by nine riparian countries: (i) worsening negative impacts of climate variability and change (floods and droughts), (ii) ecosystem degradation and pollution from various sources, (iii) ever-increasing water needs for domestic use, food and energy, as well as (iv) financial, institutional and security constraints.

In the face such pressures, H.E. Kocou Armand HOUANYE highlighted the importance of regional cooperation and a transboundary approach, among other things, with a view to:
-Speeding up planning, the mobilisation of the required funding and the implementation of structuring investments that generate shared benefits, and;
-Addressing issues such as flooding, droughts and pollution, the management of which requires joint mechanisms which involves, for example, hydroclimatic data and information sharing.

According to the vision carried by the NBA Executive Secretary, the challenge is no longer to simply share a resource; but to maximise the shared benefits derived from transboundary cooperation and investment jointly undertaken by TBO member countries.

Three strategic priorities were particularly highlighted by the NBA Executive Secretary:
- Building collective capacity for anticipating and managing hydroclimate risks through hydrological observation, remote sensing, modelling and the modernisation of Early Warning Systems;
- Building the resilience of people and ecosystems, and;
- Developing sustainable mechanisms for financing TBO’s operations, as it is the case of the NBA with the ongoing process for the establishment and operationalisation of the Regional Climate Change Adaptation Fund in the Niger Basin (RCCAF/NB), to mobilise domestic funding as well as funding from regional and global water, climate and environmental financing windows.

The second Session, ‘‘Cooperation Currents : Advancing Resilience and Development through Water Cooperation’’, focused on the need to better identify, assess and communicate transboundary cooperation benefits beyond the water sector alone.

On this occasion, the Niger Basin experience highlighted a number of key functions of cooperation and governance around shared water resources:
- Continued dialogue among governmental actors, water users and communities;
- Implementation of structuring investments jointly carried by riparian countries, and generating shared benefits for water security, food security, energy security and ecosystem preservation;
- Collective anticipation and management of hydroclimate risks, and;
- Peaceful settlement of disputes related to transboundary waters’ various uses.

Strong messages emerged from the discussions:
- The benefits from cooperation and the costs of non-cooperation around transboundary waters are multifaceted (financial, economic, social, cultural, environmental, etc.);
- The need to assess and quantify, as far as possible and using proven methodological approaches, both the benefits of cooperation and the costs of non-cooperation around transboundary waters;
- The importance of taking into consideration target audiences (Policy-makers, financial Partners, the media, the general public, etc.), communication channels and the objectives sought when communicating cooperation benefits and non-cooperation costs around transboundary waters, and;
- The peace dividend is not limited to the absence of conflict; it also rests on the ability of countries to institutionalise continued dialogue, share information, jointly anticipate risks, negotiate, make decisions and invest collectively.

Through the Executive Secretary’s participation in these two Sessions, the NBA reaffirms a key conviction: transboundary cooperation is not merely a necessity for shared water resource’s governance; it is a strategic investment in peace, resilience, sustainable development, stability and the future of people in the Niger Basin.