strengthening river basin organisations through institutional tools and approaches

Mandate

Overview

This section aims to understand the mandates of River Basin Organisations (RBOs) in the Southern African Development Community. This is achieved by exploring what a mandate is, how to strengthen it, and making recommendations about how to approach RBO mandates in the SADC.

What is a mandate?

The characteristics and processes that are linked to the formation and functioning of a mandate suggest that it is dualistic concept.

  1. It has a legal dimension in that it provides a reason for an institution to exist; broad parameters for institutional action; and so on.
  2. A mandate has a political dimension in that it is the product of state interaction and negotiation about allotment of power and resources.

How do we strengthen a mandate?

Three routes are suggested to strengthen mandates. These are directly related to the different actors that can take responsibility for 'strengthening' mandates. This can be done by:

  1. The states that bring them into being;
  2. A regional bloc or organization;
  3. Individuals working within the context of the RBO.

Given this conceptual understating of mandates recommendations are made on how to approach RBO mandates. These involve tackling issues relating to what RBOs have agreed to work on together and where they are most hampered in their daily work.