Concerned about the issue of water resources management and the need for ownership of the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Chad, various stakeholders have taken the initiative to create a Country Water Partnership. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Water and Sanitation (MEA) of Chad, a request was transmitted to Global Water Partnership Central Africa (GWP CAf) to support the creation and strengthening of a Country Water Partnership in Chad. The request received a positive response and led to the organisation a constituent assembly for Chad Country Water Partnership on the 3rd of October 2017 in Ndjamena.
Chaired by a Director General in the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, and the Chair of the GWP CAf, the meeting was held under the theme: «Advancing Excellence in Water Governance". Its main objectives were (i) the organization of the Constitutive General Assembly of the Chad Country Water Partnership and (ii) the election of the Chair and members of its statutory bodies. The draft statutes for the Chad Country Water Partnership were reviewed and approved by all participants. At the end of the meeting, Mr. DJAMAL Abdel-Nassir Chérif, senior staff at the Ministry of Water and Sanitation (MEA) of Chad, was, by consensus, elected the first president of Chad Country Water Partnership.
The active presence and participation of senior staff from the Ministry of Water and Sanitation (MEA) demonstrated the importance that the Chadian government attaches to advancing Integrated Water Resources Management in the country, and to the GWP Country Water Partnership, which is a platform for consultation among stakeholders in the water sector. To express the importance that the Government of Chad attaches to the establishment of its Country Water Partnership, the Representative of the Minister of Water and Sanitation (MEA), made it clear that the Government of Chad has committed itself as part of SDGs to increase the rate of access to water and sanitation services to 83% and 53% respectively by 2030, and wished that the Chad Country Water Partnership includes in its missions information and awareness-raising activities among all levels of the country's society, on the problems related to integrated water resources management.