Shared Water Resources in West Africa: Relevance and Application of the UN Watercourses and the UNECE Water Conventions

This work, Shared Water Resources in West Africa: Relevance and Application of the UN Watercourses and UNECE Water Conventions, addresses the question of whether riparian states in West Africa need to be parties to both the UN Watercourses Convention and the UNECE Water Convention, both of which have influenced current water regimes in the region. The initial transboundary water instruments in the region dealt primarily with navigation, later agreements addressed the need for cooperation, while recent regimes incorporate other principles of international water law articulated in the UN water treaties. Although only six out of its numerous shared watercourses are currently regulated by legal instruments, West Africa contributed through these agreements to the development of international water prior to the adoption of the UN Watercourses and the UNECE Water Conventions in the 1990s.

Nwamaka Chigozie Odili, LL.M (Water Law, 2015) University of Dundee, is currently a Director in the Nigeria Civil Service and works with the Federal Ministry of Justice Abuja.