The Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) Integration and Policy Harmonisation Workshop for the Cuvelai and Kunene Basins took place from 3–4 December 2025 in Windhoek, Namibia.
The workshop marked an important milestone in strengthening collaborative water governance between Angola and Namibia, two countries that share the highly interconnected Cuvelai and Kunene river systems. The TDA forms the scientific, technical, and political backbone of joint water management efforts. It provides a comprehensive assessment of the environmental challenges, socio-economic pressures, institutional gaps, and climate-related risks facing the basins.
As the foundation of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP), the TDA helps the two countries identify shared problems, agree on priorities, and develop targeted, actionable solutions to ensure long-term water security and ecosystem resilience.
The main objective of the two-day workshop was to strengthen the integration of all project activities feeding into the TDA and to support a coordinated approach to policy harmonisation across sectors and institutions. Through collaborative sessions, participants explored practical ways to ensure meaningful contributions from basin stakeholders, while aligning the diagnostic work with ongoing regional and national policy processes. The workshop brought together experts and decision-makers from the water, energy, agriculture, land, meteorology, fisheries, forestry, and gender sectors. Participants include representatives from the CUVKUN Project Management Unit, project consultants, the CUVECOM Secretariat, Kunene PJTC, University of Namibia, Universidade Agostinho Neto, GWPSA, and UNDP Namibia. Their collective expertise ensures a multidisciplinary lens is applied to the assessment.
The second day of the workshop focused on finalising the TDA Development Teams at national and basin levels and outlining their respective roles in advancing the TDA–SAP process. Participants also reviewed the thematic areas to be addressed in the forthcoming TDA. Working sessions concentrated on aligning data and information needs and strengthening coordination arrangements to support the joint preparation of the TDA and IWRM Plans.
By the end of the workshop the participants managed to gain Key achievements enhanced clarity on the TDA–SAP process, agree on priority thematic areas and propose coordination mechanisms at national and basin levels. The workshop also advanced in developing a constructive and collaborative step toward improved transboundary water governance for the Cuvelai and Kunene basins.
