Since 2022, the International Centre for Water Cooperation (ICWC) has been undertaking an initiative to promote water cooperation around the world. The initiative assesses the status and trends of water cooperation at different scales and analyses country preparedness, policy insights, and options to cooperate on water. This analysis supports contextualized water cooperation solutions, advocating their importance to national and international decision-makers and water managers.

This working paper sets out the case that many countries and shared water basins are facing cooperation deficits, outlining cooperation trends and the importance of progress on water cooperation across sectors, stakeholders, scales and borders, for improved water security. The special focus on Africa undertook a water cooperation assessment in 32 basins in Africa and initial conclusions are presented.