Successful launching of the WACDEP programme in Mauritania

M. Mohamed Ould Abdallahi Salem Ould Ahmed Doua, the General Secretary of the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation, launched officially on the 24^th October 2017 the programme WACDEP in Mauritania with the presence of the General Secretaries of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health as well as high level representatives of the Ministry of  Hydraulics and Sanitation. In his welcoming speech, (http://www.hydraulique.gov.mr/spip.php?article214), M. Ould Ahmed Doua presented the results of the inception mission and the adopted activities of WACDEP in Mauritania. These activities include capacities reinforcement to mainstream climate change in sectoral and development policies, assistance for identification of adaptation investments and projects preparation and the elaboration of an action plan for the National Water Resources Centre and funds leverage for its implementation.

As a first WACDEP activity to be implemented in Mauritania, the training cycle on water security, resilient development and adaptation to climate change aimed to enhance key stakeholders’ knowledge on climate change mainstreaming on sectoral and development plans. For this purpose, two workshops were organised respectively on October 24^th-26^th and December  04^th-07^th,2017 tackling among others the evaluation of climate change impacts and vulnerability, the identification of adaptation actions and their economic valuation, the stakeholders’ engagement including gender mainstreaming, the development of adaptation investment strategies, projects preparation targeting climate funds, advocacy for climate change mainstreaming and the linkages to SDGs, NAPs and NDCs implementation.

In alignment with GWP strategy looking forward strengthening partnerships, GWP-Med engaged with relevant organisations associating them in the implementation of the workshop, namely the  Arab Center for the Studies of Arid zones and Dry lands (ACSAD) and UNICEF Mauritania.

Twenty two (22) participants benefited from the training cycle representing key stakeholders involved in water management, agriculture and development planning institutions in Mauritania. In addition to public institutions such as the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Economics and Finance, the National Institute of Meteorology, representatives from local NGOs participated to the workshops. Media representatives were also invited to the workshops producing several features (see below).

During the different sessions of the workshops, participants were offered the opportunity to share experiences during plenary sessions reflecting from the Mauritanian context as well as elaborate as part of working groups on strategic recommendations to enhance climate change mainstreaming in the water policies.

As a result, and coached by GWP-Med experts, the participants developed an Action Plan for the mainstreaming of climate change in the water policies. The Action Plan included three specific objectives respectively: i) reinforce the climate governance in the water sector, ii) increase significantly the finance for climate change adaptation in order to achieve water security and iii) reinforce the water stakeholders’ capacities. The Action Plan was presented by the participants to the General Secretary of the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation during the closing session of the training cycle.

Media features reporting on the training workshop :

Mauritanian national television

http://tvm.mr/ar/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%A7%D8%A1-24-%D8%A3%D9%83%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%86/

Mauritania national radio:

www.radiomauritanie.mr/node/2177

Ministry of hydraulics web site :

http://www.hydraulique.gov.mr/spip.php?article214

Mauritanian agency for information :

http://fr.ami.mr/Depeche-42487.html

CRIDEM website

http://cridem.org/C_Info.php?article=703950