The Commission of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), in collaboration with the Global Water Partnership in West Africa (GWP-WA), the Pôle Eau de Dakar, the Secretariat of the Convention for the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes and partners, is organizing a process to capitalize on innovative and successful good practices in the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the WAEMU region.
On 25 September 2019, the regional dialogue on the theme "Accelerating progress in IWRM implementation to achieve water-related SDGs in West Africa: challenges, innovative approaches and the roles of partnerships" took place in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. The regional dialogue was organized by Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP-WA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Sanitation of Burkina Faso, the ECOWAS Water Resources Management Centre and the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UEMOA)’s Commission in charge of Agriculture Water Resources and Environment.
From 25 to 26 August 2018, the global meeting of the Advisory Committee and the Management Committee of the Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) took place at the GWP offices in Stockholm.
The Country Water Partnership of Benin (CWP-Benin) organized on August 16 and 17, 2018, the start-up workshop of the country project #TonFuturTonClimat in Natitingou, northern part of the country. This project is an initiative of the International Secretariat for Water (ISW) and GWP West Africa to support the involvement of young people in the implementation of innovative solutions for adapting to the adverse consequences of climate change.
After their recruitment as Technical Assistants, the two Young Professionals started the six-month internship on Monday 16th July 2018. The following day, they had an exchange session with the GWP-WA staff in order to get them to know the GWP network better and be familiar with the ongoing and planned actions and projects at regional and country levels.
Mr. Cheick Aboubacar BAMBARA and Boyla BASSOUROU are both nationals of Burkina Faso who joined GWP WA Secretariat in July 2018. They will support GWP - WA in the development and management of ongoing actions, programmes and projects in West Africa at the regional level and in some countries if relevant.
Benin has taken an important step in its efforts to prevent, protect and manage the consequences of climate change that could affect the population in the short, medium and long term. Benin's National Assembly adopted the country's national legislation on 18 June 2018 to: (i) combat climate change and its negative effects and consequences and increase the resilience of living communities (ii) support effective response, adaptation and mitigation measures by setting specific targets for sustainable economic and social development, security and energy efficiency, in accordance with the specific provisions of national and international legal instruments on climate change.
GWP/WA in collaboration with its partners IUCN, VBA, Eau Vive Internationale and IRC has started coaching young professionals through its regional programme for the employability of young people in jobs related to water security and climate resilience, which is implemented through the Integrated Drought Management Project in West Africa (IDMP-WA), #TonFuturTonClimat initiative, the Nexus & Food and Nutritional Security Programme and the Water Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP).
The NBA GIZ Nexus support project organized in Niamey a regional workshop on the consultation and awareness-raising on the intersectoral aspects (nexus) of the operational plan of the NBA on 19 and 20 June 2018. GWP WA took part in the meeting in view of exchanging meeting participants and the project manager of the GIZ Support Project for the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) who is also the NEXUS (Water-Energy-Food Security) Global Dialogues Representative in the Niger Basin.
The Department of Water Resources is mulling plans to set up a national framework for climate change services. Officials from regional and International partner organizations are currently took part in a consultative meeting on developing a harmonized framework to deliver prominent climate services.