Getting the GWP-CAf ready to successfully end the first period (2014-2016) of its regional strategy, also repositioning it to fit for the second half of the regional strategy and for 2030. Yes. But how? It is to answer this question that the GWP-CAf chair convened an extraordinary Steering Committee meeting. This meeting had as theme: “SDGs: Opportunities for changing and redefining the role and business model for GWP-CAf and the CWPs. It was held on June 30, 2016 in Douala, Cameroon.
The attendees to the meeting were the statutory steering committee members notably, 4 chairs of CWPs; Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo and Sao Tomé and Principe; the chair of the technical and Scientific Committee; the representatives of ECCAS and of basin organizations: CICOS; the delegates of Civil Society organizations (REFADD) and the players of water sector (SODECA); the GWP-O executive secretary as well as the GWP Southern Africa (GWPSA) executive secretary.
The overall objective of this extraordinary Steering Committee meeting was to reflect upon and propose a roadmap for the choice of the new host institution for GWP-CAf and to examine the different options of business model and governance for GWP Secretariat at country level in order to apply them in central Africa region.
Through different presentations on positioning the GWP network to fit for future 2030 and its implications as well as on the experience of governance and funding of GWP Southern Africa, the members of steering committee understood that the GWP network needed a double reforms
An internal change that will take into account the improvement of four domains (strengthening the country level; improving sustainability of financing; improving corporate knowledge management and learning and increasing Institutional performance) while external change will cope with a new global water institutional architecture.
The south-south initiative (GWPSA and GWP-CAf) based on experience sharing between regions permitted participants to go through the CWP governance, accreditation process and different managing options for CWP.
The members of steering committee also debated the GWP global and regional positioning, finance mobilization and quality of the network. They reflected upon the process of choosing a new host institution. Because the agreement between UICN, the current host institution and GWP-CAf will end on December 31st, 2016.
A closed-door meeting was held, enabling members of committee to address the governance and funding of GWP-CAf on the one hand and the roadmap for the process of finalization of the choice of host institution before the end of 2016, on the other.
At the end of the meeting several strong recommendations were made:
- Organization of study tours/trips in other GWP regions in the world to share experience;
- Formalization of the framework of cooperation ECCAS / GWP- CAf;
- Finalization of the regional strategy 2017-2019;
- Implementation of the 2016 work plan.
