The African Development Institute (EADI) of the African Development Bank Group will, in collaboration with the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA), convene a regional seminar on "National and Trans-boundary Water Resources Management in Africa" in Accra, Ghana.
The seminar also involves internal Bank departments, namely the Water and Sanitation Department (OWAS) and the African Water Facility (AWF). Targeting 35 participants from Anglophone Africa, this seminar is a sequel to a similar one convened for their Francophone counterparts in December 2010 in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
The rationale of this training event is that although significant progress has been made in Africa on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), the 2008 UN water survey revealed that the implementation of IWRM plans was ineffective due to the unsuitability or lack of appropriated instruments. Further studies by the AWF revealed there was a significant need to strengthen countries capacities to sufficiently address the knowledge and application of IWRM instruments.
The trainees will therefore feature a mix of participants from African countries that have already developed and implemented instruments for IWRM; African countries not involved in the IWRM process for various reasons (conflicts, weak political will, lack of funds etc.); and finally, representatives of regional economic organizations, basin organizations, international organizations, and scientific and technical institutions.
The seminar will also specifically attain the following objectives:
Present the main instruments which help implementation of IWRM at the country and basins/aquifers levels (evaluation of water resources, improving the state of knowledge, establishment of an information system on water, water resource allocation and conflict resolution, financial, legal and economic instruments, management of water demand, regulation and controls);
Present the procedure for taking into account the effects of climate change on water resources;
Share experiences on the development of IWRM instruments in countries and river basins/aquifers in Africa;
Conduct a review of progress at national, regional and basins/African trans-boundary aquifers in the use of instruments for IWRM;
Therefore the anticipated outcome of this seminar is the improved management and development of water resources at the country and basins/aquifers level in Africa, including capacity building of policy makers, senior government officials responsible for the water resources management and key development actors involved in the water sector.
Contacts
Adewale Shoboyejo
