In October 2011 a mission of GWP-WA composed of Prof. Aboubacar Awaiss, regional TEC member and Mr. Sidi Coulibaly, communications officer visited the Gambia and Sierra Leone and met with partners in order to start the process of finalizing the implementation of CWP. And feasibility studies have been commissioned and the two countries planned the establishment of their respective CWP on December 20 to 23 for the Gambia and Sierra Leone.
Meetings with potential partners in each country gathered a large majority of water actors. With the establishment of these CWP partners should confirm their commitment towards the promotion and implementation of IWRM in the country to help achieve water security.
Gambia and Sierra Leone next on the agenda
West Africa now has 12 Country Water Partnerships (CWP). All ECOWAS countries have one except The Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In 2009 contacts were established with these countries and strong demand had been expressed to assist in the implementation of the CWP in each country.