The meeting aims at among other things allowing a regional group of actors to get the same level of information about the initiative started some years ago, to discuss and amend the project document and reflect on the fund raising strategies for the implementation of the project.
At the opening session, the Chairman of GWP / WA, Prof. Abel AFOUDA noted the importance of IWRM in the current context of water scarcity, degradation of the quality of resources and climate change. He highlighted the efforts for a better understanding of surface water resources and noticed that great efforts should be made to know more about the groundwater. So, he said, the establishment of a dialogue on the concerted management of groundwater is a current project which has a great importance to West Africa.
The Director of the ECOWAS Water Resources Coordinating Center (WRCC), Mr. Innocent Ouedraogo, said that the workshop is jointly organized by WRCC / ECOWAS and GWP / WA with financial support from the Water Climate and Development Program (WACDEP). He said that the dialogue on the concerted management of groundwater goes line with in the implementation of the ECOWAS regional IWRM Action Plan hence its importance to the institution.
A presentation of the project made by the Executive Secretary of GWP-WA, MOGBANTE Dam, shows that the original project was developed in September 2009. Following a regional consultation workshop during which priorities were identified in October 2011, the development of the document submitted to the consideration of this workshop was undertaken on the basis of five (5) main themes that emerged from the 2011 workshop. These themes revolve around knowledge on groundwater; environmental, socio-economic aspects, Irrigation, Climate Change; Dialogue and Communication; Management and institutional aspects and finally the improvement of skills.
Priority actions to be considered have also been defined. Partners are now requested to finalize the document and under the leadership of WRCC rise funding for the implementation. The Niger Basin Authority (NBA) and the Liptako Gourma Basin Authority (ALG) shared their experiences and initiatives on the management of groundwater.
After some proposals on the conduct of the project were made and an explanation on various transboundary aquifers if the region given, the project document was reviewed and amendments were introduced to improve its content.
The various activities were reviewed, an amended logical framework with further explanation on the activities, monitoring and more precise performance indicators was proposed.
The Acting Director of WRCC, Mr. Innocent Ouedraogo, welcomed "rewarding work" before thanking all participants. He said that "For ECOWAS the theme of " underground water resources" will gain higher importance in the near future [...]Significant results are already achieved , but the turning point for the finalization of the dialogue document and fund raising for its effective implementation requires from every [partner] participation and more assertive engagement. "
This meeting brought together representatives of ECOWAS Water Resources Coordination Center, GWP / WA, IUCN, NBA, ALG, the Directorate General of Water Resources of the Department of Water, Hydraulic equipment and Sanitation in Burkina Faso, The Permanent Secretariat for the Monitoring of IWRM, CWP Burkina Faso, Water and Sanitation for Africa and the International Institute for Water and Engineering (2IE) was funded by the Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) in its regional component.
