The OKACOM Strategic Action Programme (SAP)

The Strategic Action Programme (SAP) is a basin-wide policy framework document for the Cubango-Okavango River Basin (CORB) that lays down the principles for the development of the basin and improvements of the livelihoods of its people through the cooperative management of the basin and its shared natural resources.

The overarching objective of the SAP is:

To promote and strengthen the integrated, sustainable management, use and development of the Cubango-Okavango River basin at national and transboundary levels according to internationally recognised best practices in order to protect biodiversity, improve the livelihoods of basin communities, and the development of basin states.

This objective balances the shared commitments of the basin states towards environmental sustainability, poverty alleviation, and improvement of the welfare and living conditions of the population through increased economic growth, using the mechanism of IWRM.

The SAP is a planning document that is designed for voluntary adherence by the CORB states. Its contents are supported by and in accordance with their national development plans and the National Action Plans (NAPs) for their part of the basin that have been developed in parallel with the SAP.

The SAP has been developed over three years (2008-2010) through a consultative process with a wide range of stakeholders from government departments, academic and scientific institutions, civil society, the private sector and community representatives. The SAP is a coordinated management response to the problems posed by the Driving Factors and Priority Areas of Concerns as identified by the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) carried out for the basin (as part of the GEF funded EPSMO project). The TDA identified four emerging Areas of Concern in the basin and four underlying Driving Factors, which are described below.

Areas of Concern Driving Factors:

• Variation and reduction of hydrological flow
• Population dynamics
• Changes in sediment dynamics
• Land use change
• Changes in water quality
• Poverty
• Changes in the abundance and distribution of biota
• Climate change

In response to the challenges described above the Okavango basin states have agreed on a set of six Integrated Management Objectives(IMO) that guide the implementation of the SAP, namely:

Guided by the IMOs the SAP has established a long-term planning framework, titled the Basin Development and Management Framework (BDMF), which includes the development of a long-term vision and agreement on the accepted development space for the CORB. The BDMF provides flexible management approaches informed by scientific and economic analysis and will respond to changing socio-economic and environmental conditions in the basin over time.

The BDMF is complemented by four Thematic Areas that have been identified through the national and basin-wide consultation processes namely:

Thematic Area 1: Livelihoods and Socio-economic Development
Thematic Area 2: Water Resources Management
Thematic Area 3: Land Management
Thematic Area 4: Environment and Biodiversity

The implementation of the SAP is the responsibility of OKACOM and the governments of the riparian States. At national level the SAP initiatives are integrated within the respective National Action Plan (NAP) of each basin state, making the NAP a critical tool for the implementation of SAP priority actions at national level and the integration of transboundary and basin concerns into national legislative, policy and budget decision making processes. At the national level the institutional mechanisms for the coordination of NAP and SAP implementation were identified during the NAP development process and are clearly spelled out in the respective NAPs. At the basin level SAP implementation is coordinated by OKACOM through its organs, primarily the Secretariat assisted by the OBSC and the various technical committees. Based on the annual work plans of the Commission, the Secretariat is also responsible for coordination of the International Partner projects and work to attract further SAP implementation support from both the public and private sectors at the regional and national levels.