Bangladesh to ratify 1992 Water Convention

Staff Reporter :

Bangladesh has announced its intention to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) of 1992.

The move marks a significant step toward enhancing legal and institutional frameworks for the sustainable and equitable management of shared water resources particularly important for a country downstream of over 50 transboundary rivers.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Council of Advisers, chaired by Chief Adviser to the Interim Government Professor Muhammad Yunus, held at the Chief Adviser’s Office (CAO) in the capital on Thursday.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan formally announced the development while speaking to reporters at a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy later in the day. Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam was also present.

Highlighting the significance of the decision, Rizwana Hasan noted that there are two key United Nations legal frameworks for the governance of transboundary waters the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention and the 1992 Water Convention. While the 1992 Convention was initially designed for European countries, it was made open to all UN member states in 2016.

“Though the convention originally focused on Europe, 11 non-European countries, mostly from Africa, have since joined,” she said. “Today, we decided to ratify it. Bangladesh is set to become the first Asian country to do so.”

The adviser added that all domestic preparations and procedural formalities have already been completed, paving the way for formal ratification.
Bangladesh, a lower riparian country dependent on more than 50 transboundary rivers, views the ratification as a step toward asserting its commitment to equitable water sharing, sustainable water management, and strengthened regional cooperation.