Protection of Transboundary Surface and Groundwaters

Globally there are 263 watersheds that cross the political boundaries of two or more countries; these watersheds represent about one half of the earth's land surface and 40% of global population,  underscoring the need for multi-country cooperation in the management of shared waters including rivers, lakes and aquifers. These shared water systems are under threat from pollution, inefficient  water use, habitat loss and climate change and can become the source of local and regional conflicts. UNDP-GEF's Shared Waters programme assists groups of countries sharing such waterbodies to  identify priorities and agree upon regional and national governance reforms to promote integrated, ecosystem-based, climate resilient approaches to shared water resources management.

UNDP has been involved as a GEF Agency in a total of 19 transboundary river (1 0), lake (7) and aquifer (2) projects and has cumulatively programmed USD 176 million of GEF funding towards managing transboundary surface and groundwaters.