The African Water Issues Research Unit (AWIRU) is a not-for-profit applied research organisation based at the University of Pretoria, established to develop an African capacity to understand the complexity of African water management and development issues. AWIRU’s objective is to generate water management solutions that are politically, socially, economically, environmentally and culturally sustainable in Africa.
AWIRU operates in unison with the goals of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), aiming to strengthen transboundary water governance at all levels throughout southern Africa.
AWIRU focuses on three key areas:
- Transboundary water management -between countries, regions, communities and economic sectors. This includes both advocacy/research and training through the UPTW
- Policy formulation & institutional development – the role of second-order resources (social & economic) in effective water management
- Technical water management instruments – this includes the publication of text books relevant to Africa, compiling databases and analysing the role of modelling systems in water management.
The website includes details of staff, projects and how to become affiliated with AWIRU. It also includes full text versions of occasional papers.