Held under the theme, “Watering Development in SADC: The central role of water in driving industrialization” the dialogue was attended by 150 delegates from across the region representing the water sector, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), cooperating and development partners, academia, the media, and other relevant stakeholders from non-water entities (energy, agriculture, industrialization). The delegates, of which a good number were youth were brought together to deliberate the role that water will play in driving industrialization in the region.
The validation of the RSAP IV was done in the fifth session of the Dialogue programme, which took in the form of group work looking at the following eight topics:
- Regional instruments for cooperation: Support the harmonisation and implementation of the National Water Policies
- Gender mainstreaming, Youth and Stakeholder engagement
- Infrastructure development, operation and maintenance
- Climate Change and variability
- Industrialization and Nexus approaches
- Water Resources Management for Sustainable development
- Capacity development and research
- Establishment and strengthening of oceanic states cooperation and shared watercourse institutions
Speaking during the closing session of the dialogue, Mr. Phera Ramoeli, Senior Programme Officer, SADC Secretariat informed delegates that the RSAP IV document should be out by December 2015. He added that he was looking forward to the enthusiasm and support from the participants on the implementation on the RSAP IV and the dialogue outcomes. He further applauded the great support that had been received from the youth and hoped that would continue in all the activities that will be undertaken.
The dialogue is a biennial activity which provides a platform for regional stakeholders to discuss and share experiences on different aspects of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The dialogue is supported from the Government of Denmark (Danida), the Governments of Germany in delegated cooperation with the Governments of Australia (AUSaid) and the United Kingdom (UKaid) managed by GIZ, in collaboration with the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP-SA). This year, additional support was received from two USAid programmes, namely Climate Resilient Infrastructure Development Facility (CRIDF) and Resilience in the Limpopo Basin Program (RESILIM).