Four (4) countries participated in the discussion: Burkina, Guinea-Conakry, Ghana. The Gambia attended but could not engage in the live discussions which took place on 28 September 2018 from 10 to 12.
The main highlights that came out of the discussions can be summarized as follows:
On the development of the new GWP Strategy:
- The main strategic directions of the current strategy remain relevant and need to be consolidated at some points. There are ongoing initiatives that need to build on and enhance;
- The new strategy should be developed to respond to the development challenges the countries are facing in implementing and monitoring SDGs;
- West Africa is facing security and migration issues that need to be addressed;
- Wastewater treatment is a major issue that requires to work on reuse;
- Finance issues are critical and innovative financing initiatives must be developed, including through mobilizing private financing;
- Capacity and information on water resources are key to water security and must addressed appropriately in the strategy;
- Youth engagement and job creation is important.
On partners engagement:
- To further engage the stakeholders, there is a need to know what their expectations are and provide relevant services to respond to their needs;
- GWP need to enhance our internal capacity at the different levels, including at the national level. The regional and global levels can help the national levels raise funds.
The network meeting mobilized about 40 partner organizations in the four attending countries.
