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.

The WACDEP Regional Programme Manager undertook a mission on 6 November 2015 on the program demonstration site in the municipality of Loumbila in Nakanbé (Volta Basin) in Burkina Faso.

The regional WACDEP team in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), GWP and the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) is working on an initiative to prepare the project for the implementation of integrated flood management and the development of bankable projects, through the Associated Programme on Flood Management (APFM), the WACDEP coordination unit.

One of the key IDMP actions in West Africa is the establishment of the national platforms in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and at regional level. These platforms will be used to discuss issues related to the integrated drought management. In Niger a meeting held on November 5 to set up the national platform on Integrated Drought Management (GIS) in the country. The finalization of the project document for the institutional framework of PGIS Niger was also discussed.

Pursuant to a decision of the General Assembly of Partners taking into account budgetary limits, the Secretariat has organized the meeting of the Steering Committee electronically at the end of October 2015.

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.

Like all players in the WASH sector, the Consultation Framework of Non-state actors in the water sector and sanitation (Canea) celebrated World Toilet Day (WTD) on November 19, 2015 through financial support from WSSCC. It was an opportunity to mobilize all stakeholders for a public debate around the effectiveness of the END OPEN AIR defecation (ODF) for better health of the population.

On November 30, 1 and 2 December, the CWP Benin held in Parakou, a training session on IWRM and the integration process in the planning tools at local level targeting the elected officials and local stakeholders in the municipalities where WASH-Benin Program makes its interventions. The activity was financially supported of WASH-Benin Programme on the one hand with the technical facilitation of CWP Benin.

The village communities of Tampizua II in the Bawku Municipality and Azum Sapelga in the Binduri district of Northern Ghana are very happy with the field demonstration project being implemented in their communities. Located on the borders of the White Volta River these communities are experiencing various unfortunate situations such as floodings that are affecting their livelihoods because of climate related factors.