5. This document presents the Regional Water Policy for the SADC region which is aimed at providing a framework for sustainable, integrated and coordinated development, utilization, protection and control of national and transboundary water resources in the SADC region, for the promotion of socio-economic development and regional integration and improvement of the quality of life of all people in the region. The policy was formulated through a highly participatory and consultative process, implemented over a period of about 12 months, involving diverse stakeholders including senior government officials from ministries dealing with economics, law, water resources, agriculture, energy, and environment. Other stakeholders included academic and research institutions, private companies, consultants in various disciplines, as well as representatives of local and regional NGOs, and community leaders. Policy Principles 6. The policy framework for the regional water policy is anchored by the following pronouncements which SADC Member States have formulated over the years:  SADC Declaration and Treaty (Declaration by the Heads of State or Government of Southern African States “Towards the Southern African Development Community” “Towards the Southern African Development Community” adopted in Windhoek, Namibia, on 17 August 1992, and the Treaty of the Southern African Development Community, which entered into force on 30 September 1993) . The original Declaration calls upon all countries and people of Southern Africa to develop a vision of a shared future, a future within a regional community that will ensure economic well-being, improvement of the standards of living and quality of life, freedom and social justice and peace and security for the peoples of Southern Africa.  The Southern African Vision for Water, Life and Environment adopted in March 2000, aimed at “equitable and sustainable utilisation of water for social and environmental justice, regional integration and economic benefit for present and future generations”. Water is therefore seen as a driving force to a better future for the peoples of Southern Africa.  The Revised SADC Protocol on Shared Watercourses, which entered into force in September 2003, whose overall objective is “to foster closer cooperation for judicious, sustainable and coordinated management, protection and utilisation of shared watercourses and advance the SADC agenda of regional integration and poverty reduction”.  The “Dublin Principles” of integrated water resources management (IWRM) (enunciated in the 1992 Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development promulgated by the International Council of Water and Development) commonly accepted as representing best water resources management practice. - vii -