Challenges

In many parts of the world, especially member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), water scarcity, inefficient water governance, and climate change represent fundamental challenges surrounding water management, directly affecting health, food security, energy, and sanitation among other sectors. Beyond existing complexities surrounding shared resources, modern topics such as rapid urbanisation, increasing agricultural demands, and pollution further exacerbate these existing vulnerabilities.

Despite the shared nature of these challenges, there are limited mechanisms for knowledge exchange and joint capacity building efforts. Achieving SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), requires strengthened South-South collaboration, access to data, and coordinated efforts. In many cases, solutions to water management challenges already exist within the Global South, but a lack of visibility and coordination may prevent them from being effectively shared and scaled. Enabling access to research, statistics, and capacity building opportunities accelerates more sustainable and equitable water governance across the OIC Member Countries.

Toward a Solution

In response to the water management challenges faced by OIC Member Countries, the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) launched the OIC Water Resources Portal as a one-stop platform to enhance South-South cooperation in the water sector. The Portal seeks to bridge gaps between knowledge supply and demand by offering a pool of resources and facilitating the matching of the needs of member countries with offers in training and expertise exchange. It directly supports the realisation of SDG 6, particularly Target 6.a, which calls for expanding international cooperation and capacity-building support in water and sanitation. In addition, it also contributes to SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals).

As a publicly accessible platform, the OIC Water Resources Portal hosts and disseminates valuable resources, including a database on water conventions, news and events, success stories, publications from SESRIC and OIC Member Country institutions, national policy and regulatory frameworks, and key water statistics through its OIC Statistics Database (OICStat).

Central to the Portal is its integration with SESRIC’s Water Resources Management Capacity Building Programme (Water-CaB). The process of gathering information on water-related needs and capacities across OIC Member Countries and sharing it through the Portal naturally led to the establishment of the Water-CaB. SESRIC developed the programme with the aim of enhancing the capacities of human resources within the member countries. Through training courses, workshops, webinars, and study visits, and based on the South-South cooperation model, the programme provides structured learning opportunities. This ensures that the Portal not only serves as a knowledge base, but also operationalises capacity building and skills transfer.

The initiative adopts a participatory, demand-driven approach. To effectively plan and implement capacity building activities, SESRIC distributes questionnaires and Terms of Reference (ToR) templates in the three languages of the OIC (Arabic, English, French) to be completed by the relevant national institutions. This ensures the programme accommodates the diverse needs of the member countries that significantly vary in water assets, governance capacities, and climate vulnerabilities. The questionnaires enable respondents to specify whether they require or can provide training on each subject. To complement the skills transfer efforts, another vital feature is the Roster of Experts of the SESRIC Capacity Building Programmes (ROSCAB). Experts willing to offer and share their insights are able to individually register their information on the ROSCAB page.

The platform has enabled the transfer of knowledge and good practices across countries, making technical resources accessible across language, institutional, and capacity barriers. By facilitating peer-to-peer learning, the Portal has created a virtual stage where good practices, technical guidelines, and innovations can be shared horizontally among member countries. A pertinent example is the Workshop on “Water Governance and Integrated Water Management for Lake Chad Basin Countries” organised in 2024. The event brought together subject matter experts from six different countries, offering valuable thematic insights while ensuring regional relevance.

Since its launch, the Portal has registered a significant increase in user engagement. The Water Resources Management Capacity Building Programme, linked through the Portal, has delivered training to more than 700 experts across different regions, enhancing national capacities in areas such as water desalination technologies, integrated water resources management, and water monitoring networks and early warning systems.

The Portal stands out as an innovative solution by providing a low-cost and scalable platform for South-South cooperation, allowing countries to pool knowledge and strengthen collective capacity. SESRIC continues to update the Portal’s database of policies, statistics, and news, ensuring its sustainability. Discussions are also ongoing with member countries to formalise mechanisms for regular updates and collaborative reporting.

Replicability is high, as the model can easily be adapted for other sectors facing shared challenges across OIC countries or broader Global South regions. Key conditions for successful replication include institutional commitment, active participation by national stakeholders, and a solid content management framework. Lessons learned highlight the importance of early engagement of national focal points and the value of integrating capacity-building directly into knowledge-sharing platforms. Creating a participatory platform from the outset ensures that initiatives like the Water Resources Portal remain responsive, impactful, and sustainable.