16th OKACOM Meeting
Press Release
26th May 2010
OKACOM commits to share information about water to reduce impacts of floods and droughts on people
living along the Okavango River
The Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission met on the 26th of May 2010 to discuss issues
pertaining to better management of the Okavango River Basin. This meeting was a preceded by meetings of the
OKACOM taskforces and the Okavango Basin Steering Committee. Among the issues discussed at this
meeting, a major breakthrough was the agreement on a protocol to share river information that will help the
three countries and communities better prepare themselves to cope with extreme climatic events such as floods
and droughts.
Considering that the Okavango River starts in Angola and passes through Namibia and ends in Botswana, heavy
rains in one country can be a harbinger of floods to come in another. Therefore, early warning of rising river
levels will allow downstream countries to prepare and avoid the worst impacts such as the loss of life, livestock
and negative impacts on local agriculture and tourism.
Furthermore, the Commission deliberated on the outcomes of the Okavango River Basin Transboundary
Diagnostic Analysis, a key document to be released by OKACOM to inform the preparation of a Strategic
Action Program for the basin.
The Commission also chose to honour its retired Commissioners, acknowledging their contribution to
development of OKACOM and the long term commitment of the riparian countries to wise management of the
basin.
At this meeting OKACOM acknowledged the considerable contributions of its development partners over the
years, contributions of close to 20 million US dollars. The Swedish and US governments, the United Nations
Development Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation and the Global
Environment Facility agreed to continue their longstanding partnership, complementing the efforts of the three
basin state governments to enhance management of the basin and the lives of people who live in the three
countries.
For OKACOM ANGOLA
For OKACOM BOTSWANA
For OKACOM NAMIBIA
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Mr. Armindo M. Gomes da Silva
Mr. Gabaake Gabaake
Mr. Andrew Ndishishi

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