New practical guide empowers local communities in Lake Chad Basin to implement the Water Charter

Adopted in 2012, the Lake Chad Basin Water Charter provides the legal framework for the equitable and sustainable management of shared water resources across Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Niger and Nigeria. The Basin supports over 45 million people, yet the Charter’s technical nature has made it challenging for many local stakeholders to understand and engage with its content.

The new guide addresses this gap. Tailored for local administrators, farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk and community leaders, it presents the Charter’s key principles and annexes in clear, straightforward language. It's goal is to foster community-level understanding and ownership of the Charter, enabling more inclusive and effective implementation.

The guide summarizes the Charter’s core content into 18 key principles and provides an overview of its first 11 annexes. It also highlights 10 essential themes for action, ranging from water use regulation and environmental protection to data sharing and participatory governance. In doing so, it equips local actors with practical knowledge to support sustainable water management and regional cooperation.

“This guide is more than just a summary; it’s a bridge between regional policy and everyday reality,” – Ambassador Mamman Nuhu, Executive Secretary of the LCBC. “It empowers local administrators, farmers, fisherfolk and pastoralists—the very stewards of the Lake Chad Basin—to understand, own, and act on the Charter’s provisions.”

The launch of the guide marks a key step forward in strengthening resilience and sustainability in the Lake Chad Basin, a region increasingly affected by climate change, population growth and environmental degradation. By building capacity at the local level, the initiative supports long-term governance solutions grounded in dialogue, participation and shared responsibility.

The full guide is available in English and French

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This publication was made possible through IUCN’s Building River Dialogue and Governance (BRIDGE) programme, which supports transboundary water cooperation in key river basins around the world and the generous support from the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC). The LCBC–IUCN collaboration reflects a shared commitment to inclusive decision-making and sustainable resource management.

For more information, please contact:

Armel MEWOUTH

Regional Water Focal Point

Central and West Africa Programme (PACO)

[email protected]