The Mékrou Project Officer was invited to take place to the meeting of Niger Basin Authority experts Committee prior to the Council of Minister in Abuja. The NBA meetings took place from May 25 to June 2, 2016 in the Capital city of Nigeria. GWP WA was fully represented by the Mékrou Project Officer.
Three factsheets on the three demonstration pilot projects of the Integrated Drought Management Project (IDMP) West Africa have been produced. These factsheets give basic information on the various pilots projects being carried our in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in the framework of the IDMP. The French version of the factsheets are available and can be downloaded here.
A scanned version of the Framework Agreement signed on December 21, 2015 by Benin, Burkina and Niger was transmitted to all members of the Advisory Committee, to the nine (9) Ministers related to NBA through the National Focal Structures of NBA, as well to the Regional Coordination of users of the natural resources of the Niger basin (CRU-ABN).
The first draft of the national studies in Benin, Burkina and Niger on the identification of development priorities in the Mekrou Basin have been submitted to the Project Manager. These drafts were forwarded to the Project Management team as well as to the international consultant recruited by GWPO to make a coherence in the national studies. The international consultant is to ensure the national consultants’ work comply with the Terms of Reference and create a coherence between the three studies.
In the 2015accounts audit report, the auditor's conclusion was the following: "We believe that the financial report of the Regional Water Partnership for West Africa (GWP/WA) and the CWPs (Burkina and Ghana) accurately reflect the statement and financial position of the Regional Water Partnership for West Africa and the CWPs (Burkina and Ghana) as of 31st December 2015, consistently with the GWP financial procedures.”
The way forward in 2016 is to strive to implement all partially implemented recommendations including those made in 2014 and those made as of 31st December, 2015. It should be noted that almost all new recommendations dating from 31st December 2015 have already been implemented prior to the finalization of the audit report in 2015 in Burkina Faso and for the region.
A new budget proposal submitted for EU approval includes a budget line of 50,000 to support the implementation of demonstration projects in countries. The projects proposed by each country were initially budgeted to be implemented with much more funds, so it was asked from each country to resize the projects to fit the proposed budget or raise funds at national level to complement.
In Benin, Burkina and Niger the biding processes have been completed for the consultants to carry out the study on the Identification of development priorities in the Mékrou Basin being part of each country that will be followed by a validation workshop. The development of the study started in each country and is being followed closely by the CWP and the Mékrou PMT.
The Permanent Secretary of CWP Niger, Mr. Garba Radji, undertook a working mission with the CWP Benin in Cotonou from 17 to 23 July 2015. Mr. Radji is the PS of the CWP Niger since June 2015.
A workshop was held in Niamey on May 29, 2015 to validate the study on 'Analysis of the results of national consultations and elaboration of the preliminary proposal of the agreement on the establishment of the framework and coordinating mechanism for political dialogue in the Mekrou basin planning process ''.
This workshop brought together about 40 people who validated the document by highlighting the context of Niger.
Fund raising is a continuous activity at national and regional levels that emphasizes technical and financial support from partners in the implementation of the IDMP activities.