
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Central Africa and West African Programme (IUCN/ PACO) as part of its program "Partnership for environmental Governance in West Africa (PAGE)", Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP / WA ) and the Regional Partnership for the Conservation of coastal and marine zone in West Africa (PRCM) as part of their respective work programs are launching the third edition of the "Water and Environment" media contest.
In Sub Saharan Africa Climate Change is worsening an already alarming situation vis-à-vis food security and water resources and everyone has a responsibility to develop/ use appropriate means to address the issue.
Nine countries in Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda) carried out national consultations on water and food security whose outcomes were used by (or contributed for) the United Nations Committee on Food Security (UN CFS) to issue recommendations on Water and Food Security and Nutrition at the end of 2015 offering a strong basis for a new momentum.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day (8 March), We have interviewed Mrs Hadja KORA ZAKI Mariame, the Chair of the National Association of users of the natural resources of the River Niger Basin in Benin (ANU-Benin) in the department of Atacora in the Northwest of the country.
The Integrated Drought Management Project in West Africa (IDMP-WA) made its internal assessment of the first year of project implementation and discussed the existing national plans during a meeting.
The meeting, held in Ouagadougou from 8 to 10 December 2015 was an opportunity to discuss the main actions undertaken during the first year of implementation of the project. Among these actions the review in detail of the initiatives / institutions in Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and at regional level, starting the establishment of national and regional platforms of exchanges on integrated drought management, the development by CWP and their partners of demonstration project documents, the identification of training needs for stakeholders and also the preliminary exchanges with the ECOWAS/WRCC to advocate for the development of regional guidelines ondrought.
The Chair of GWP West Africa, Prof. Abel AFOUDA accompanied by the Regional Coordinator and Communication took part in the GWP regional days 2015 in Stockholm from 22 to 25 November. This meeting was an opportunity to review the progress made by the global network in its fields of action and to make projections into the future. GWP and several partners express satisfaction since their efforts to have a water dedicated sustainable development goal come true. Discussions are underway to better position the network of partners in supporting countries to be successful in the implementation of the SDGs as a whole but especially the goal 6 with its different targets. Discussions at the regional days gathered ideas for a better positioning of GWP.
As part of the implementation of Mekrou project, and in order to lay the foundations for proper planning, a socio-economic survey will be carried out on households in the basin area in the 3 countries. An initial technical information and training workshop of country coordinators of these investigations was held in Cotonou from 18 to 20 November 2015.