Benin joins United Nations (UN) Water Convention, strengthening transboundary water cooperation in West Africa

The Republic of Benin has acceded to the United Nations Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (UN Water Convention) during a high-level ceremony at UN headquarters in New York at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Benin is now the 61st Party to this global legal framework for cooperative management of shared waters. This accession marks a significant step in Benin’s commitment to sustainable water governance at both national and regional level. It creates new opportunities for managing the coastal sedimentary aquifer shared by Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria. This aquifer supplies drinking water to millions in the Gulf of Guinea but lacks a formal transboundary governance framework. With all four countries now Parties to the Convention, they can establish a joint governance framework for this vital resource. In addition, over 56 per cent of Benin's territory lies within the Mono, Niger, and Volta transboundary basins. This provides further opportunities to enhance data-sharing, joint governance, and cooperation, particularly with Togo and Nigeria, with whom Benin shares the Mono and Niger basins along key regional trade