Owning the guidelines for the development of water infrastructure in West Africa

From 19 to 20 March 2015, the Country Water Partnership of Benin organized a national workshop on the ownership of the guidelines for the development of large hydraulic infrastructures in West Africa.
This workshop follows the regional one held on 17 and 18 November 2014 in Lomé, Togo. About thirty stakeholders involved in the process of conducting water works namely the public structures, NGOs, consumers, municipalities, research institutions, etc. took part in the meeting.

The objective of the workshop is to bring down at national level the results of the Lomé workshop and define the basis for the conduct of national dialogue around water infrastructure to allow the awakening of a national consciousness on the framing of major infrastructure.
The findings and perspectives of cooperation on major water infrastructure projects within ECOWAS were presented in addition to the presentation of the context and challenges for sustainable development around the dams in Benin, the presentation of experiences of Togo.
Several recommendations were made to facilitate the implementation of the guidelines and conduct consultations for the development of hydraulic works in Benin mainly around the conduct of a baseline study on a well identified target for the case Adjarala dam, adapting the ECOWAS guidelines for water works at national level and establishing a national dialogue governed by an interministerial order to assess various Hydraulic Infrastructure being studied currently.