The workshop which took place at the Global Water Partnership Central Africa (GWP-CAf) secretariat office in Yaounde was organized within the framework of the second round of reporting on SDG 6, supported by Global Water Partnership (GWP) in collaboration with UNEP-DHI and UNDP-CAPNET through the SDG6 IWRM program. The workshop brought together twenty stakeholders from Ministries (Water and Energy,Transport, Agriculture, Economy and Planning, Housing and Urban Development), representative of UN Agencies(UNESCO), Civil Society Organisations (SAILID, Water for Life, Young Volunteers for the Environment), Youth Organisation network (RECOJAC) amongst others .
In his opening speech,the Director of Water Resource Management, Mr. Mamadou Ousman welcomed all participants and congratulated the SDG 6.5.1 taskforce for getting the draft report ready for this phase of the process. He also emphasized the importance of monitoring SDG 6.5.1 "as a major part of ensuring the proper and timely implementation of IWRM in the country". Mr. Mamadou Ousman expressed his appreciation to GWP-CAf for the technical and financial support provided to Cameroon since the first round of reporting in 2017 and also in overall facilitation of IWRM implementation since 2005. He concluded with a call on participants to contribute actively and freely to the national report, assuring them that the final report submitted will reflect the decisions and recommendations from the workshop.
The workshop opened with a presentation on the background of the monitoring process , the different sections of the questionnaire and the basis on which the current scores were given. A brief question and answer session followed to allow for proper comprehension before the participants were split up into working groups for three sections of the questionnaire: Enabling Environment, Institutions and Participation and Management Institutions. The group discussions focused on brainstorming to agree or contest the questionnaire scores given for each section and make recommendations to facilitate the implementation of SDG 6.5.1. During the final plenary session which followed, group representatives presented conclusions from the working session before all participants engaged in discussions on the Finance Section of the questionnaire.
In comparison with the overall score of 34% in the 2017 report, the final score obtained after consolidating the report based on inputs from the consultation shows that there has been a 6% increase in the total score to 40% in 2020, with “Institution and participation” section scoring the highest and “Finance” having the lowest score. To better address some constraints in the implementation of IWRM and improve sections with low scores, the stakeholders made recommendations to the government with particularities for each section.
The workshop came to a close with a word from the SDG 6.5.1 focal point , Mrs. Ngo Biemble during which she thanked the participants for their contributions which will be taken into full consideration when consolidating the report before submission to UNEP. Participants also expressed their appreciation for this year's monitoring process and committed to working towards the implementation of the workshop recommendations at all levels.
ACTION PLAN
- Disserminate the SDG 6.5.1 national report with stakeholders in the water sector and advocate for the implementation of the recommendations by all stakeholders according to their competence.
- Advocate for the inter-ministerial committee for the follow-up of the SDGs to take into account the conclusions of the report in the global report on the implementation of the SDGs in Cameroon.