CWP Benin held on September 20, 2017 a meeting of partners to adopt amendments done in the bylaws of the platform. Speaking, Mr. André TOUPE, chair of the CWP said that the CWP has to reposition itself in a totally changing environment in terms of implementation and compliance with IWRM principles in Benin and that requires a change of role within the water sector.

The signing of MoU between GWP/N and the Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA) took place in September.

GWP Nigeria held a meeting between the Country Nexus team and the ECOWAS Department for Agriculture, Water and Environment on the 11/9/2017 with the WEFE regional coordinator, Dr. Fabien Hountondji in attendance. The meeting was attended with Dr. Johnson Boanuh - Director, Environment representing the Commissioner who was unavailable.

The International Secretariat for Water, the Global Water Partnership West Africa, the Country Water Partnerships of Burkina Faso and Benin, and the NGO Eau Vive Togo are proud to announce the launch of the project #tonfuturtonclimat.

A new film on the implementation of the pilot project initiated in the northern part of Benin in the Mékrou Basin has just been released by GWP West Africa. This video presents the actions carried out by the Mékrou pilot project in Benin. The Pilot Project to Support the Restoration of Ecosystems of the Head source of the Mekrou Basin (PAREM) in Benin aims to improve people’s knowledge on the impacts of climate change on the ecosystems of the head source of the basin; and to reduce the degradation of the natural ecosystems of the head source of the Mekrou. The project implementation is coordinated by the Benin Country Water Partnership with funding from the European Union Commission.

The Global Water Partnership-Nigeria team were in the National Assembly to pay an advocacy visit on the Senate Committee Chairman on Water Resources, Sen. Uballi Shittu and the House Committee Chairman on Water Resources, Hon. Aliyu Pategi. Due to the strategic importance of the meeting, Sen. Uballi Shittu sought the approval of the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawal to be part of the meeting. The advocacy visit is aimed at sensitizing the National Assembly on the activities of GWP and also plead for the accelerated passage of the National Water Resources Bill.

The Gambia Country Water Partnership (GCWP) held a national workshop on monitoring and reporting on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Six (#6) indicator 6.5. The event took place on 29 August 2017 at the Tango Conference hall in Banjul. Target 6.5 reads “Implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate”. The workshop is aimed at facilitating the submission of baseline data on SDG 6.5.1 on the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management.

On Wednesday, 30 August 2017, an awareness and information workshop for civil society, the media and the general public was held in Cotonou on the ECOWAS Directive on the development of hydraulic infrastructures. The workshop was organized by the Benin Country Water Partnership in collaboration with the Ministry in charge of water and the financial support of the IUCN Global Water Initiative (GWI) Project.

The staff of the Executive Secretariat carried out a retreat from 24 to 28 July 2017 in Leo, with the aim of updating the planning and organizing the final actions for a good end of the Mékrou project and the other initiatives.

The IDMP project manager together with CWP Burkina and some GWP WA staff have visited the pilot project site wher innovating practices of resilience to drought are promoted in Komki Ipala. The visitors were much satisfied with results achieved by the pilot project which initiated various techniques of restoration of degraded lands to produce grass for animal feeding through natural assisted regeneration. These technics are mastered by the populations involved in the project. To show their mastery they are testing a long time abandoned land to grow some crops.