light. Furthermore, coordinated management of the regional impacts of floods and droughts is required. iii) Shared watercourses which cut across political jurisdictions and cover several countries with different socio-economic conditions and complex water rights are a source of conflict unless managed in a coordinated, integrated and equitable manner. This must also acknowledge the shared watercourses with non-SADC States, which requires flexibility in institutional arrangements. iv) Widespread poverty in the region. UN and World Bank studies indicate that a number of SADC countries have the lowest human development indices. Available statistics indicate that about 70% of the population in the region lives below the international poverty line of US$2 per day. Poverty in the region may further be exacerbated by the impact of the HIV/AIDS, which has reached pandemic proportions in some of the Member States, and is imposing severe burdens on the social, economic and health sectors. v) Weak inter-sectoral linkages and coordination, which hampers comprehensive and integrated development. vi) Low access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, primarily as a result of inadequate infrastructure; and poor operation and maintenance of facilities has contributed to unsustainability of services. vii) Weak policy linkages at regional and national levels, particularly weak implementation and monitoring mechanisms at national level, such that plans at regional level do not have an effective impact at national level. viii) Sharing benefits of water allocation between watercourse States, taking account of historically uneven development of water resources requiring joint assessment, planning and understanding of resource availability and utilisation. ix) Poorly developed formal dispute resolution mechanisms, particularly the delay in establishment of the SADC Tribunal. x) The prevalence of HIV/AIDS, with the associated challenges for the capacity, sensitivity and requirements posed in respect of water resources management in the region. xi) Limited Capacity to implement compliance and monitoring of the International Agreements 2.2.4 In spite of the above issues, water resources management presents tremendous opportunities for socio-economic development of the region. These include:  Abundance of overall water resources presents opportunities for the development of agriculture, renewable energy sources, water supplies for domestic and industrial water requirements, and tourism. Rather than focussing on allocation of water resources, it is important to consider the sharing of benefits of water resources development and management through negotiation.  The shared water resources present opportunity for integrated development, regional cooperation and peace and security.  Poverty reduction can be addressed more effectively on the basis of a multi-sectoral approach; hence the need to move concertedly towards IWRM at national and regional levels.  The SADC Treaty and the SADC Common Agenda has already provided an overall policy framework for developing the shared resources of the region. The RISDP provides a comprehensive and multi-sectoral framework for addressing socio-economic development in the region. -9-