(ii) Member States will put in place proper legislation to ensure/provide for compensation and resettlement of affected communities, so that they will not be worse off as a result of the project. (g) Regional Water Resources Institutional Framework. SADC Secretariat (i) The SADC Secretariat is responsible for promoting and coordinating the implementation of the Regional Water Policy and Strategy and Protocols for the Water Sector in cooperation with other sectors such as health, energy, agriculture, tourism and environment. (ii) The SADC Secretariat is responsible for supporting SWCIs and assessing their compliance with and implementation of the Revised Protocol. (iii) The SADC Secretariat is accountable to the Member States through the Council of Ministers and shall ensure direct coordination with National Water Departments. Shared Watercourse Institutions (SWCIs) (i) Appropriate SWCIs shall be negotiated in all shared watercourses by agreement between the Watercourse States. (ii) A Watercourse Commission shall be established on each shared watercourse to advise and coordinate the sustainable development and equitable utilisation of the associated water resources for mutual benefit and integration. (iii) The development of Watercourse Commissions may be phased to enable gradual development of cooperative arrangements and capacity requirements. (iv) Watercourse Commissions must efficiently and effectively fulfil the institution‟s responsibilities considering sustainability. (v) Watercourse States are encouraged to jointly plan the development of water resources through Watercourse Commissions and to undertake the development and operation of joint water resources infrastructure on behalf of two or more countries for mutual benefit through Water Authorities or Boards. (vi) Policy and strategy level decision making within SWCIs should be through consensus between Watercourse States. (vii) All SWCIs must enable the SADC Secretariat to fulfil its coordination and guidance responsibilities in terms of the Regional Policy and Strategy and the (Revised) Protocol on Shared Watercourses. (viii) Stakeholder participation in decision making shall primarily be through Member States‟ government representatives, while any SWCI shall ensure stakeholder consultation at a joint project level. (ix) In the interests of IWRM, SWCIs are encouraged to foster cooperative relationships with non-governmental and civil society groupings within the shared watercourse. Institutional Arrangements at National Levels (i) Member States have an obligation to create an enabling institutional environment for the effective management of shared watercourses in line with the Revised Protocol and the Regional Policy and Strategy. - xv -