MandateThe Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM) promotes equitable and sustainable development of the resources of the Orange-Senqu River, and provides a forum for consultation and coordination between the riparian states to support integrated water resources management (IWRM) and development in the basin. The goals of ORASECOM (Hollingworth 2007) are to:
ORASECOM is expected to strengthen regional solidarity and enhance socio-economic cooperation within the region. FunctionsThe executive functions of ORASECOM remain with the relevant water authorities of the four member states. The following functions are assigned to ORASECOM (Hollingworth 2007):
Organisational StructureORASECOM's organisational structure consists of the Council, Secretariat and Task Teams. The Commission works primarily through a sub-committee system of legal and technical Task Teams, the members of which are technical experts or advisors nominated by each delegation. The CouncilThe highest body of ORASECOM is the Council, which is supported by a Secretariat and a series of Task Teams who manage projects. The Council serves as technical advisor to the Member countries on matters related to development, utilisation and conservation of the water resources of the basin. The Council consists of delegations from each of the four member countries. The delegations are comprised of three permanent members from the respective government agencies responsible for water resources management. The respective delegations from the four member states are as follows:
The SecretariatIn August 2006, the Republic of South Africa signed an agreement to host the ORASECOM Secretariat in Pretoria, South Africa. Functions of the Secretariat include:
Technical Task TeamsTask teams are established by Council, and comprise of representatives from member states. The task teams undertake communication, financial, legal and technical functions delegated to them the commission. Source: ORASECOM Website
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