Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

added reservation
26-08-2026
1. The Republic of Malawi understands and declares that nothing in the Convention, and in particular no obligation to cooperate, notify, consult, share data, or jointly manage transboundary watercourses, shall be construed as affecting, modifying, prejudicing, or creating any right in derogation of the territorial sovereignty or sovereign rights of Malawi over its territory, including the waters, bed, and subsoil of Lake Malawi insofar as they fall within Malawian territory as determined by applicable rules of international boundary law. 2. The Republic of Malawi further declares that its accession to, and cooperation under, the Convention shall not in any manner be construed as an admission, acknowledgement, or recognition of the territorial or boundary claims of any other State with respect to Lake Malawi or any other shared water body, and shall not prejudice or affect the conduct or outcome of any bilateral or multilateral process for the resolution of boundary questions concerning such water bodies. 3. The Republic of Malawi declares that the establishment of any joint body, commission, or mechanism pursuant to the Convention in relation to Lake Malawi or any watercourse adjacent to a disputed boundary shall be without prejudice to Malawi’s territorial and boundary positions, and the terms of reference of any such body shall not be construed as resolving or foreclosing any question of territorial sovereignty or boundary delimitation. 4. This Declaration is made pursuant to Article 3 of the Convention, which affirms that the Convention does not affect existing treaties or agreements. and is consistent with the general principle of treaty interpretation affirmed in Article 31(3)(c) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969), which requires that account be taken of all relevant rules of international law applicable in the relations between the Parties, including the rules governing territorial sovereignty and boundary delimitation.

added reservation
20-01-2026
… for purposes of Article 22(2) of the Convention, the Republic of Botswana declares that for any dispute not resolved in accordance with Article 22(1), it accepts as compulsory means of dispute settlement in relation to a Party accepting the same obligation, the submission of the dispute to the International Court of Justice; and Arbitration in accordance with the procedure set out in Annex IV to the Convention.