In her opening speech, she said, "This national workshop to establish the National Coordination of Users of Natural Resources in the Volta Basin is in line with the integrated management approach, as water resources play a decisive role in economic growth and poverty reduction. I welcome the relevance and qualitative changes brought about by the project: “Reversing the trends of ecosystem and water resource degradation in the Volta Basin”. She affirmed the commitment of the authorities at the departmental and national levels to support and accompany all actions that contribute to the development of the Volta Basin. She thanked the technical and financial partners of the REWarD Volta Basin project, including the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Global Water Partnership in West Africa (GWP-WA) ‘for the synergy implemented with the ABV in setting up this project’.
The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss, amend and validate the national report on user mapping and characterisation, the capacity-building plan and the initial work plan.
The list of pre-selected user organisations was updated and validated. The statutes and internal regulations of the National Coordination were amended and adopted. A 15-member bureau, including five women, was established. The new president, Mr N'SERA Midama Parfait, representative of the Communal Association for Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (ACHA), expressed his determination with his team in these terms ‘I am surrounded by a team that includes both young people and people older than me, and together we will work to fulfil the expectations of the coordination so that at the end of our three-year term in 2028, our team will have made its mark on the history of the basin in Benin.’
The representative of the Executive Director of the Volta Basin Authority (VBA), Dr Rafatou FOFANA, reiterated that "The establishment of National User Coordinating Bodies (CNU) is one of the strategic outcomes of the REWarD project. It responds to a twofold ambition: on the one hand, to strengthen the direct involvement of local communities and users of natural resources in water and environmental governance; on the other hand, to structure a representative dialogue platform capable of feeding into the Regional User Coordination planned at the VBA level."
Benin is the second country after Mali to establish its National Coordination of Users of Natural Resources in the basin.
Related link: Mali, establishment of the National Coordination of Users of Natural Resources in the Volta Basin - GWP