Southern Africa FRIEND Phase II, 2000-2003: United Kingdom contribution to the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO; Technical documents in hydrology; Vol.:69; 2004

The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part in any form for education or nonprofit use, without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. As a courtesy the authors should be informed of any use made of their work. No use of this publication may be made for commercial purposes. Publications in the series of IHP Technical Documents in Hydrology are available from: Foreword It is increasingly apparent that technical advances alone cannot solve the world's water problems and that an interdisciplinary approach relating water and social issues is required. This view is reflected in the focus of the sixth International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO (2002-2007) on " Water interactions: systems at risk and social challenges ". The activities described in this report, conducted under the auspices of the Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data (FRIEND) project (one of two " cross-cutting " themes in IHP-VI) are an important contribution to this Programme. The cooperation between UNESCO and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has enabled the United Kingdom to play a leading role in successive International Hydrological Programmes. The UK contribution has focused on FRIEND, an international regional hydrology project, which aims to improve the accuracy, consistency and ease with which water resources can be assessed through applied research addressing regional problems. A key element is the development of international cooperation leading to the exchange of data, knowledge and techniques between countries and regions. Over 100 countries now participate in eight regional FRIEND groups worldwide. Southern Africa FRIEND was the first regional FRIEND project to be established outside Europe. It was initiated in 1992 and brought together hydrological agencies from eleven states of the Southern was successful in developing for the first time an extensive database of river flow and spatial data for the whole area. This and other activities in Phase I are described in a report published by UNESCO (Technical Documents in Hydrology Series No. 15). Phase II from 2000-2003 has built on the achievements of Phase I by focusing on providing hydrological agencies in twelve countries (Mauritius …