Europe - UNEP

DESCRIPTION OF TERMS
Commission—A bilateral or multilateral body, composed of officials appointed by national governments to
participate in dialogue, discourse, and negotiations regarding the international water body for which it was
created.
Date—The date usually indicates the date on which a treaty document was signed or a river basin commission
was instituted. If such information was unavailable, the next choice was the date of entry into force, followed by
the date of ratification. For agreements consisting of a series of letters or notes written on different dates, the
latest date was used. Dates are represented in a month/day/year format.
Economic program—A bilateral or multilateral economic development project or program which aims to
improve investment/trade/economic activities among countries sharing an international water body.
Environmental program—A bilateral or multilateral project or program which aims to improve/protect/conserve
the quality and habitat of aquatic systems associated with an international water body.
International initiative—A bilateral or multilateral body, composed of non-official actors who serve a Track 2
function, bringing stakeholders together to dialogue and strategize about transboundary water issues. International
initiatives involve stakeholders from multiple countries who are mainly functioning to enhance dialogue
and improve stakeholder participation, but do not necessarily implement their own projects, as they do not
have funding to do so.
Level of collaboration—Indication of level of international water collaboration form: official or non-official.
Official collaboration is acknowledged by the national government while non-official collaboration has no
governmental involvement.
Organization—A bilateral or multilateral body, composed of officials acting on behalf of their government
(ministerial, technical or other) to conduct coordinated and/or informed management of the international
water body. An organization differs from a commission in that it involves the implementation of bilateral or
multilateral programs (information sharing, joint management, etc.).
Participating countries—The countries that are party to the international water collaboration form.
Principal issue—Issue area that international water collaboration form focuses on more than on other issues.
Riparian country collaborations—Projects, programs, or partnerships with a river basin as a geographic focus,
involving organizations or representatives (acting in an official or non-official capacity) from two or more
countries that share the international water body.
Signatories—Signatories to the agreement. The formal country names as delineated in the actual treaty are
used if that information is readily apparent; otherwise, common country names are listed instead.
Social / health program—A bilateral or multilateral social and/or health project or program which aims to
improve the social and/or health conditions of the people living in an international water body.
Treaty basin—Identifies the basin or sub-basins specifically mentioned in the document. If a document applies to
all basins shared between the signatories, but no river or basin is mentioned specifically, the treaty basin is
listed as “frontier or shared waters.” For frontier or shared waters, a treaty is listed under all the TFDD basins
shared between those signatories. A document may therefore appear listed under multiple basins.
Treaty or agreement—The full formal name of the document or best approximation thereof. The place of
signature is often included as part of the agreement name. Agreement titles, regardless of the language of the
source document, are listed in English. Not all titles are official.
Type ype of international water collaboration—Form of international water collaborations.
98 — Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience along International Waters: Europe