Four West African countries make pledge on giant aquifer

Ministers in charge of water, meeting in Geneva, made the vow over the Senegal-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (SMAB), a vast groundwater resource on which 80 percent of their countries' population depend.

The initiative will "promote resilience, sustainable development and stability in the region," they said in a declaration issued after talks that began on Tuesday.

The four agreed to set up a "legal and institutional framework for transboundary cooperation for the sustainable management" of the SMAB and the region's surface waters.

The framework will be determined under negotiations that will factor in existing accords covering use of the Senegal River and Gambia River.

The SMAB extends over 330,000 square kilometres (128,000 square miles), from southeastern Mauritania to southeastern Guinea-Bissau.