of water resources to achieve the goals of regional integration, development, equity, poverty eradication and sustainability. Harmonisation of National Policy and Legislation (i) Member States shall promote the harmonisation of their water policies and legislation with the regional water policy. (ii) National water policy and legislation shall take into account any international and regional conventions, protocols and policies accepted and/or already adopted by the Member States. Conflict Management (i) Member States shall pursue all avenues of amicable prevention and resolution of conflicts, in accordance with the principles enshrined in the SADC Treaty (ii) Where amicable resolution cannot be achieved, conciliation, mediation and arbitration mechanisms should be pursued, with use of the SADC Tribunal or other recognised international arbitration structures only as the last resort Water for International Cooperation SADC shall actively participate in and support other African Initiatives, as well as creating relationships with international initiatives on water resources management (b) Water for Development and Poverty Reduction. Water for Socio-Economic Development (i) Water shall be considered as an economic good, which supports crosssectoral regional economic integration and development, and shall be conserved, developed and managed to provide economic benefits. (ii) Water shall be considered as a social good that is essential to human dignity, poverty reduction and social well-being. (iii) Water allocation between Member States, sectors and users shall consider among other things the economic benefits balanced with social obligation and environmental requirements (iv) Regional water resources management shall consider the concept of comparative advantage in water availability as a means of promoting intra-regional trade and balancing national water budgets in a sustainable manner. Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (i) Members States have a social and economic responsibility to ensure sustainable access to safe water supply for basic human needs in their respective countries. (ii) Member States will prioritise the allocation, access and utilisation of water resources for basic human needs over any other allocation, access and utilisation. (iii) Member States will seek to provide, in addition to clean water for domestic use, water for productive activities to poor and marginalised communities in rural and peri-urban areas in order to alleviate poverty and to correct imbalances in development. -x-