SOCIAL 

AND 

ECONOMIC RIGHTS

RESEARCH AND EVALUATION OF WATER IN AFRICAN LAW (RENEWAL) PROJECT (2018-2020)

About the Project: African Law Foundation (AFRILAW) in partnership with the Center for Water Security and Cooperation (CWSC) USA implemented a two (2) year ‘Research and Evaluation of Nexuses of the Exploitation of Water in African Law (RENEWAL) Project’ in Nigeria. AFRILAW is a non-profit and non-governmental development law organization with corporate headquarter in Enugu State of Nigeria.

Nigeria Project Key Objectives: The key objectives of the Project include to create the first-pan African water law platform for Nigeria, including a comprehensive collection and cataloguing of all existing water laws; summaries of each law and detailed analyses of how the collected laws relate and interact to make up the governing water law framework; and evaluations of existing frameworks. With this resource, we intend to host educational and engagement workshops to introduce communities to the platform, teach community-members how to use the platform, and engage in active dialogue with all stakeholders to get their feedback, input, and insight.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES  

RENEWAL will deliver seven key deliverables.  

1. Open and Accessible Database on Water Governance. The primary deliverable will be the online database, complete with a comprehensive collection of laws and other original source materials, visual representations, accessible explanations and analysis, and peer-reviewed evaluation notes for each country and region. The database will be free and openly accessible to the public.  

The website will initially be presented in English with reference to original source material in its native language. As the project moves into maintenance from development, we anticipate finding and deploying partners who can make the evaluation materials as well as the legal materials accessible in the official and majority languages of the continent, with a focus on languages used in national court systems.  

2. Comprehensive Data on Water Governance. The data created and cataloged by this project is the first attempt to fully compile all laws that affect the governance of water in Africa. This includes laws, regulations, policies, practices, guidelines, local customs and judicial decisions. RENEWAL provides detailed and comprehensive overviews, expert analysis and evaluation and visually accessible data.  This database will serve as the premier source of information on water governance in Africa, allowing researchers, government officials, development workers and citizens to easily comprehend the state of water law and governance in any given country or region as well as understand trends and connections between different governance models. The database will be maintained and updated by a network of partners and stakeholders overseen by the CWSC to ensure the database remains current.  

3. Proprietary Methodologies. In order to complete this project, Co-Leaders will develop four methodologies: a Collection Methodology and Qualitative Assessment Questionnaire (QuAC), a Cataloguing Methodology, an Analysis Methodology and an Evaluation Methodology. These carefully designed and vetted methodologies will allow our research to be consistently conducted by different Partners and the analyses and evaluations to be reliable    

 4. Analysis of Water Governance. The expert analysis of laws by water lawyers, in conjunction with partners, will allow for a deep and authoritative summary and analysis of water laws and governance in each country and region of Africa.  These evaluative summaries will provide a succinct, impartial, accessible overview for lawyers and non-lawyers alike, helping to present the massive amounts of statutory and other data in a more digestible way. Analysis will also come in the form of graphics and detailed reports that analyze and accessibly convey information. These evaluations will be periodically updated by local stakeholders as laws change, allowing for a current, reliable database.   

5. Sustainable Network to Maintain the Database. RENEWAL is a large undertaking and will require a network of partners and stakeholders to create and maintain the water governance database. Partners and stakeholders will provide indispensable insight into the law, its implementation and its enforcement as well as serve an important role in the sustainability of the project by providing real-time updates on legal changes. This network will also act to disseminate relevant information to stakeholders and offer educational and capacity-building programs to citizens and decision-makers in order to ensure continued engagement and accountability in water governance.  

6. Creation of Training Modules once launched. RENEWAL will serve as a host for in-person and virtual training modules created by partners. These modules will use the data collected by RENEWAL to educate officials and stakeholders around the world on water law and governance issues that are central to achieving best practices and good governance targets as well as to introduce and educate stakeholders about the database and how it can be used and applied.  Relying on examples drawn from the RENEWAL database, these training modules will encourage deeper interaction with the database, make the database an effective tool for all stakeholders, and continue to build the network of water professionals that are at the core of the sustainability of the database.  

Provisional training modules may include: 

• “Water Governance Best Practices” 
• “Water Governance and Natural Disaster Preparedness” 
• “Legal Challenges to Water Allocation” 
• “Regional Approaches to Water Management” 
• “Conflict Resolution Solutions in Water” 
• “The Human Right to Water: Status and Implications”  

7. Evaluation of Water Governance. Upon collecting, cataloguing and objectively analyzing the water governance, Co-Leaders will develop and apply a methodology for evaluating the strength and effectiveness of water governance. The methodology will seek to identify strengths, shortcomings, gaps and inconsistencies. 

PROJECT ACTIVITIES NO. 1: COLLECTION OF FEDERAL AND STATES GOVERNMENT WATER RELATED LAWS, POLICIES, REGULATIONS, STANDARDS, AND STRATEGIES.

AFRILAW hired 37 lawyers across the 36 States including FCT as State Water Law Researchers to collect all relevant Federal and States Government Water related Laws, Policies, Regulations, Standards, and Strategies in accordance with the “Collection Methodology” provided in the areas of water, sanitation, hygiene, environment, health, land, natural resources, agriculture, disaster management, security, economy, infrastructures, and energy. 

About 1600 relevant Federal and States Government Water related Laws, Policies, Regulations, Standards, and Strategies were collected across the 36 States including FCT by the State Water Law Researchers.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES NO. 2: CATALOGUING OF COLLECTED FEDERAL AND STATES GOVERNMENT WATER RELATED LAWS, POLICIES, REGULATIONS, STANDARDS, AND STRATEGIES.

The 37 State Water Law Researchers cataloged all the 1600 Federal and States Government Water related Laws, Policies, Regulations, Standards, and Strategies in collected from the 36 States including FCT in accordance with the “Cataloguing Methodology and Templates” provided by AFRILAW.  

(JANUARY- DECEMBER 2019):  

PROJECT ACTIVITIES NO. 3: SELECTION, TRAINING AND DEPLOYMENT OF 6 FIELD RESEARCHERS FOR THE DEPLOYMENT OF QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE (QUAQS) IN 18 STATES IN THE 6 GEOPOLITICAL ZONES OF NIGERIA. 

AFRILAW selected and trained 6 Field Researchers selected from each zone for the field research, and the zone and states for the field research include:

• Mr. Emmanuel Ejim for North West Zone (Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa States)
• Mrs. Iya Catherine for North East (Adamawa, Bauchi and Yobe States)
• Ms. Rachel Nnwoka for South-South Zone (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers States)
• Ms. Aba Regina for North Central Zone (Benue, Nasarawa and Niger States)
• Ms. Reuben Linda for South East (Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu States)
• Mr. Kehinde Adegbite for South West Zone (Ogun, Osun and Oyo States).

The Field Researchers Training Workshop was held on Saturday April 6^th, 2019 at the Sunshine Hotel, Enugu, Enugu State by AFRILAW with funding support from CWSC:

The Qualitative Assessment Questionnaire (QuAQs) were developed and deployed for the field research. 

The purpose of the Qualitative Assessment Questionnaires or QuAQs is to deepen our understanding of how law is being used, the effectiveness of that use, and the responses to misuse or lack of understanding or enforcement.  The questionnaires will allow us to understand with greater insight how the law has evolved in each country, the limits of the laws, the practices that have taken the place of laws in some circumstances.  Through these questionnaires, we will create an evaluation plan with stakeholders in governments and outside of government that will identify key failures of the law and incorporate best practices collected by the questionnaire.  As such, this is a critical component of RENEWAL, and the responses that you obtain will add to the richness of our investigation.  The QuAQ will explore five categories of information: 1. Customary Practices 2. Governance and Institutions 3. Education 4. Access and 5. Enforcement.

The QuAQs are made up of 15 Categories which include:  State Ministry of Water Resources/ Utilities (Commissioner/Perm-Secs/Directors/HODs); State Water Management Board (Managing Director/Chief Executives/Directors/HODs; Other Relevant State Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)(Gender/Social Development/Environment/Sanitation/Health/RUWASA/Physical Development/Planning/ Land/Agriculture); State Legislative House Members (Water/Utilities/Social Development/Rural –Urban Development Committees); Law Officers (Ministry of Water Resources/Utilities/Water Management Boards-Legal Depts/Ministry of Justice); Local Government Area (LGA) Executives/Administrators/HODs (Water/Utilities/Social Development/Community Development); Judiciary (High Courts/Magistrate Courts/Customary Courts);  LGA Legislative House members (Executives/Officers); Town/Community Leaders (Traditional Leaders /Town Union Executives); CSOs, (Representing disadvantaged groups -Women /Children/People living with Disabilities); Private Organization/Companies; Community –based organizations (Women/Youth Groups/Market/Traders Associations/People Living With Disabilities (PLWDs), etc); Religious Leaders; Stakeholders; and International Organizations and Donor Groups. 

There were about 250 Interviewees/Respondents from the 15 QuAQs categories who participated in the field research from April 7, 2019 to May 31, 2019.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES NO. 4: SELECTION AND TRAINING OF WATER LAW RESEARCH CONSULTANTS FOR THE REVIEW, ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF COLLECTED AND CATALOGUED FEDERAL AND STATES GOVERNMENT WATER RELATED LAWS, POLICIES, REGULATIONS, STANDARDS, AND STRATEGIES. 

AFRILAW selected 6 Senior Law Lecturers from University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, Ebonyi State University, University of Benin, and University of Calabar as Water Law Research Consultants for the Review, Analysis and Evaluation of Collected and Catalogued Federal and States Government Water related Laws, Policies, Regulations, Standards, and Strategies collected from in each geo-political zones of Nigeria.

The Water Law Research Consultants Tasks:

• Review of Collection and Cataloguing Templates: Each Water Law Research Consultant will review the Collection and Cataloguing Templates from the States in the Zone in accordance with the “Collection Methodology” and “Cataloguing Methodology”, and in line with the direction provided.
• Analysis of all Collected and Catalogued Federal and States Government Water related Laws, Policies, Regulations, Standards, and Strategies: Each Water Law Research Consultant will analyze the collected and catalogued Water related Laws, Policies, Regulations, Standards, and Strategies from the States in the Zone in accordance with the “Analysis Methodology,” to be provided, drafting an independent description and illustration of the existing water law framework.

Each Water Law Research Consultant will analyze the collected Qualitative Assessment Questionnaires (QuAQs) in accordance with the Template to be provided.

• Evaluation of the Existing Federal and States Water Law Frameworks: Each Water Law Research Consultant will conduct a preliminary evaluation of the existing water law framework from the States in the Zone in accordance with the “Evaluation Methodology” to be provided.

AFRILAW in partnership and funding support from Center for Water Security and Cooperation (CWSC), USA organized and held a 1-Day Training Workshop for 6 Water Law Research Consultants on 31/01/2019 at BON Hotel Stratton, Abuja:

Group picture of the Water Law Research Consultants Training Workshop with CWSC ED and Co-ED and AFRILAW ED

PROJECT ACTIVITIES NO. 5: HOSTING STAKEHOLDERS EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOPS:

Using the various RENEWAL Project research reports, AFRILAW will organize and hold education and engagement workshops across the 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria. The workshops are to introduce communities to the platform, teach community-members how to use the platform, and engage in active dialogue with all stakeholders to get their feedback, input, and insight.

2020 PROJECT ACTIVITIES: 

In 2020, the Consultants undertook to conduct a preliminary evaluation of the existing water law framework in accordance with the evaluation methodology provided. In other to do this, consultants were required to:

• A. Conduct a needs assessment for each nexus they are responsible for. B. Identify at least 5 needs or challenges per nexus. C. Provide evidence to support the claims. D.  Suggest possible legal solutions that address the needs identified.
• Conduct a detailed review of the Local and Regional court cases have been decided for each nexus they are responsible for and analyze same with the question: a. how did the court opinions interpret existing law; b. how will the court opinions inform future interpretations of the law and the design of new law