Accra — Fifteen media practitioners from five Anglophone African countries, including Gambians and officials of the Ecowas Water Resources Coordination Centre (WRCC), on Wednesday, brainstormed on the status of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and water sector reforms in West Africa.

This training is part of the Ecowas Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)) training for Anglophone journalists in charge of water and environment issues in the Ecowas zone, currently taking place in the conference hall of Erata Hotel in the eastern part of Accra, Ghana. The two-hour debate came after a power point presentation by Professor Lekan Oyebande, chairman of the Global Water Partnership Technical Committee for West Africa on the topic: Â'Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) processes in West AfricaÂ'.

Journalists demanded that for member states to closely work together in the management and conservation of their water resources, they should be effectively abreast with the activities of Integrated Water Resources Management by giving both the Anglophone and the Francophone countries the opportunity to assemble at one ground and discuss the way forward. Water, majority of them emphasised, plays a vital role in the survival of human kind in all aspects and therefore its usage must be done judiciously.

Professor Lekan Oyebande said this was not possible due to language barriers. He however said the WRCC unit has made some giant achievements in both the Anglophone and Francophone countries. According to him, it has presented on the situation of water resources management in West Africa based on the questionnaire sent to countries and on reports that have been elaborated during the preparation of the West African water resources policy.

According to him, the formulation of water policies are just of recent practices and for a long time, concerns about water in West Africa were essentially centred on its resources mobilization. Professor Oyebande told journalists that all the member states have recognised that water policy must be designed as part of their general development policy.

However, it is vital that water policy, like water management, must be decentralised and documents at each level must be formulated with a participatory approach like the rural water supply project in The Gambia. The Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) shows that The GambiaÂ's policy and regulations for water management are in progress but not yet harmonised.