On 8 June 2012, Luxembourg became the 26th nation to ratify or otherwise become a full party to the 1997 UN Convention on the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses. The other 25 states include: Burkina Faso, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Namibia, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan. In addition four nations have signed the treaty but have yet to become full ratifying members: Côte d’Ivoire, Paraguay, Venezuela, and Yemen. You can find the updated status of the Convention here.
Of the 26 ratifications, two occured in 2012 (so far), three in 2011, three in 2010, and two in 2009. If the present rate of ratifications continue, the Convention could come into force within three or so years. The Convention requires 35 parties for it to achieve that status.
While it is probably still too early to identify any definitive trends, it is at least curious that of the 26 states that have ratified the Convention, twenty are either from Africa (8) or Europe (12). Five others are from the non-African Middle East region, albeit its also true that eight are MENA nations. Only one ratifying state is found in Asia (Central Asia to be precise) and none come from the American hemisphere.
What this might mean is still unclear. But the geographic distribution of the ratifications could suggest a geographic bias or disfavor for the Convention. As nations continue to ratify the instrument (and I do expect more nations to do so), it will be interesting to see whether this trend continues. Moreover, it will be interesting to see what this might mean if and when the Convention comes into force.
