VUNWE programme

The VUNWE Integrated Program (2026-2029), supports two transboundary river basin commissions, INMACOM and BUPUSACOM, in Southern Africa, facilitated by a consortium of five regional and international water organisations led by IHE Delft, and financially supported by the Embassy of The Netherland in Maputo.

The word “VUNWE” means unity in the different languages spoken across parts of the five basins covered by the two commissions. VUNWE is used as the acronym for “Vitalizing, Unifying, Neighbouring Water management Empowerment”.

About the VUNWE Integrated Program

The VUNWE Integrated Program is an opportunity to fulfil the shared ambitions of both INMACOM and BUPUSACOM:

• To reach a higher level of capacity and autonomy. Both Commissions are concerned about the financial sustainability of their Secretariats and the activities of their Task Teams and Working Groups.
• To ‘fill some gaps’ in basin monitoring and data management activities to strengthen transboundary water management across the basins.
• To address the challenge between the principle of subsidiarity (what can be done at lower levels, shall be done at lower levels, i.e. at the level of Member States and their institutions) and the need for coordination at the highest transboundary level.
• To improve on stakeholder engagement and enhance the visibility of the benefits of transboundary cooperation.
• To learn from each other and from other river basin organizations in the region and beyond.

The ambitions of the Netherlands

The Netherlands Embassy in Maputo wishes to pursue integrated approaches between Food and Nutrition Security and the Water Sector, with a focus on water supply, drought management, flood control, and the need for integrated water resource management. The Netherlands has historically supported the management of the Incomati and Maputo River Basins and, in the past decade, has offered dedicated support to the city of Beira, near the mouth of the Pungwe River, to increase its water security and climate resilience, building on Dutch water and spatial planning expertise.