<h1 class="ql-align-center">UNECE Water Convention</h1> <h2>Context:</h2> <ul><li>Recently, The four West African countries: Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal have signed a joint declaration to advance transboundary cooperation in the Senegal-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (SMAB)</li></ul> <ul><li>The joint declaration would be the first such mechanism in West Africa and pave the way for strengthened collaboration on shared groundwater resources worldwide</li></ul> <h2>About:</h2> <ul><li>It is an international environmental agreement and one of five UNECE's negotiated environmental treaties </li></ul> <ul><li>Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) was adopted in Helsinki in 1992 and entered into force in 1996</li></ul> <ul><li>The Convention is a unique&nbsp;legally-binding instrument&nbsp;promoting the sustainable management of shared water resources, the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the prevention of conflicts, and the promotion of peace and regional integration.</li></ul> <h2>Senegal-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (SMAB):</h2> <ul><li>The Senegal-Mauritanian aquifer basin is the largest basin in the Atlantic margin of northwest Africa, having an area of 350,000 square kilometres.</li></ul> <ul><li>More than 24 million inhabitants of the region are dependent on it for drinking water and other needs. This includes the capitals of Guinea Bissau and Senegal, namely Bissau and Dakar.</li></ul> <h2> United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE):</h2> <ul><li>It was formed on 28 March 1947 and it is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.&nbsp;</li></ul> <ul><li>It is Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.</li></ul> <ul><li>It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and integrations among its member States.</li></ul> <ul><li>The commission is composed of&nbsp;56 member States,&nbsp;most of which are based in Europe, as well as a few outsides of Europe.&nbsp;</li></ul> <ul><li>Its transcontinental Eurasian and non-European member States include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the USA, and Uzbekistan.</li></ul>