The workshop brought together members of ministerial departments, representatives of national institutions, the representative of the Country Water Partnership, members of the National Water Council, members of the Technical Monitoring Group of the study, representatives of Technical and Financial Partners, representatives of international organizations and Regional Cooperation Institutions, members of the Mali Country Water Partnerships network and the media.
The CWP Mali chair, Navon CISSE welcomed the participants and recalled the major issues and challenges of the water sector, including the dimension of the functional plan of the National Water Council in the implementation of IWRM in Mali.
He expressed the gratitude of the Country Water Partnerships of Mali to the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water as well as to the Regional Water Partnership for West Africa for having accepted to entrust the Country Water Partnerships with the study which is part of the Global Support Program for the acceleration of the implementation of IWRM in Mali. He recalled that the objective of the Support Program for the acceleration of IWRM implementation in Mali is the revitalization of the National Water Council in order to contribute to accelerate the implementation of the National IWRM Program 2019-2030 to support the achievement of the MDG6 and other MDGs related to Mali by 2030. He stressed that the objective of this meeting is to share with the participants the conclusions of the study in order to accelerate the process of adoption of the draft text setting the organization and operating procedures of the National Water Council of Mali (CNE).
The representative of the Minister of Mines, Energy and Water, after thanks
expressed his hope and satisfaction that this important activity is being implemented in close collaboration with civil society under the aegis of the Country Water Partnerships of Mali. Aware of the contribution of the partners, he thanked the technical and financial partners for their constant support and accompaniment in the development of a sustainable and concerted management of water resources in Mali.
Participants were then given the opportunity to comment on the difficulties such as the CNE's trusteeship, the financing of CNE meetings, etc. Some general observations were corrected in the reports and clarifications were requested on some articles of the new draft Decree, in particular the absence of the weather forecast by the members of the Technical and Scientific Committee.
At the end of the discussions, the workshop recommended to diligently adopt the new draft decree fixing the organization and the modalities of functioning of the National Water Council, the Regional and Local Water Councils.
Waiting for the adoption of the decree
On December 30, 2021, the meeting of the National Water Council of Mali was held in the conference room of the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water to present the conclusions of the study on the revitalization of the National Water Council to accelerate the implementation of IWRM and the achievement of the SDGs in Mali.
The meeting gathered in addition to the members of the National Water Council, the members of the Technical Group for the follow-up of the study, the members of the Country Water Partnerships network of Mali and the media.
The representative of the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water, Chair of the National Water Council reminded the members that the concerted management of water resources implies the mobilization of all the stakeholders concerned by water-related issues. In order to maintain this dynamic, consultation frameworks have been set up, such as the National Council for Water Resources Management in Mali, to carry out participatory and concerted actions.
He emphasized that this meeting of the National Water Council is being held to share the conclusions of the study on the status of the functioning of the National Water Council of Mali and the new draft decree setting the organization and operating procedures of the National Water Council, the Regional and Local Water Councils.
The Mali CWP chair recalled that within the framework of the acceleration of the implementation of IWRM in African countries, the country was selected to benefit from a global program through the Global Water Partnership West Africa to support Mali in the implementation of the National IWRM Program.
Participants debated on ways of revitalizing the CNE and urged the ministry representative for a quick and urgent adoption of the decree that was proposed in order to make things move forward.
