International Development Grant
Transboundary water management in Iraq
Project Number: CA-3-P010645001
Status: Terminating
Country/Region:
Maximum Contribution: $1,500,000.00
Start Date: March 31, 2022
End Date: March 31, 2025
Duration: 3.0 years
Project Description
This project seeks to strengthen Iraq's negotiation and technical capacity to engage in transboundary water negotiations with the upper riparian countries of Iran Syria and Turkey. This will enable them to obtain an equitable share of these watercourses. A three-pronged strategy is employed to achieve this. Project activities include: (1) enhancing technical capacity for negotiations; (2) supporting Iraq's participation in UN conventions and forums on transboundary water cooperation; (3) facilitating negotiations between Iraq and upper riparian countries; and (4) working to find approaches to reduce water conflict.
Expected Results
The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) Improved access to obtain a greater share of water from the three rivers: the Euphrates the Shatt Al-Arab and the Tigris; and (2) enabled Iraqis to better cope with scarcity and maintain their livelihoods under pressure from the effects of climate change.
Progress & Results Achieved
Results achieved as of March 2024 include: (1) completed a multisectoral analysis on the transboundary water issue for the Tigris and Euphrates river basins. This informed Iraq’s negotiation with neighbouring river bank countries (Iran Syria and Türkiye) and during the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference; (2) improved 51 officials’ (11 women) negotiation skills and increased their knowledge of international laws and treaties on transboundary water basin management; (3) developed tailored negotiation strategies for Iraq; (4) organized 6 meetings that included policy-makers journalists government representatives and civil society to discuss various dimensions of Iraq’s water scarcity challenges; (5) supported Iraq’s ascension into the 1992 United Nations Transboundary Water Convention as the first country in the Middle East and facilitated its membership in the Transboundary Water Coalition; (6) established a monitoring and information management system for all Iraq’s main rivers; and (7) trained 20 Iraqi experts (10 women) in the Ministry of Water Resources on effectively designing managing and overseeing water-related development projects and supported 4 new projects’ development.
Key Information
Executing Agency:
UNDP - United Nations Development Programme
Reporting Organization:
Global Affairs Canada
Program:
EGM Europe Arctic Middle East and Magh
Last Modified:
September 19, 2025
Development Classifications
DAC Sector:
Aid Type: Contributions to single-donor funding mechanisms and contributions earmarked for a specific funding window or geographical location
Collaboration: Bilateral
Finance Type: Aid grant excluding debt reorganisation
Selection Mechanism:
Department-Initiated