International Women's Day 2016

On the occasion of International Women’s Day (8 March), We have interviewed Mrs Hadja KORA ZAKI Mariame, the Chair of the National Association of users of the natural resources of the River Niger Basin in Benin (ANU-Benin) in the department of Atacora in the Northwest of the country.

Tell us a little about your activities

I am mainly in the organization, awareness raising of the different components of users such as farmers in general, cattle breeders, market gardeners, dam managers, beekeepers, nurserymen, traditional healers, managers of protected forests, women processors and fishermen on the good practices of Integrated Water Resources Management, the consequences of deforestation, climate change, the establishment of botanical forests among others.
At a higher level I am involved in developing, implementing and monitoring /evaluation of sustainable development policies, programs and projects in the basin on the one hand and the implementation of training module for capacity building of civil society including users of natural resources of the basin in terms of lobbying and advocacy on the other.
With the partners I do sign contracts especially with the Benin Country Water Partnership (CWP-Benin) in addition to communications made during my participation in various national and regional workshops related to sustainable management of the Niger Basin.
What would you say are the main challenges in your work as a woman?

In our area municipalities belonging to the basin are located in remote locations, there is also the lack of resources for the implementation of the communication plan, the non-payment of membership fees and contributions of the Communes in addition to the lack of staff for the secretariat.
What have you done to overcome these obstacles/challenges?

To overcome these difficulties, we continue to raise awareness at the community associations of users for the payment of their fees. We succeeded to sign the MOU between the ANU, the NBA and the Government in order to make available the ANU staff for the secretariat
What would you recommend to other women in a similar situation?
I recommend especially tolerance and develop outreach capacity to others to adopt responsible behaviors for the good management of water resources. You know the woman is the main concerned with water issues and as such we must try to understand others and raise their awareness to help them understand our problems too.