Bridging the Gap Between Civil Society and the Nile Basin Organizations

This policy brief provides an analysis of civic engagement practices within, and by, the two leading regional organizations in the Nile basin: the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC). The brief analyses how civic engagement is characterized in both the strategic plan of the NBI and the founding protocol of the LVBC and draws upon reports and interviews conducted with officials from the respective organizations.

The brief detects that civic engagement is integrated in the mandate of the two organizations under the purpose of incorporating stakeholders’ participation in the organizations’ activities. However, it shows that governance mechanisms in the two organizations demonstrate limited and conditional civic engagement in decision making.