A training of trainers capacity building workshop was held from 25 to 29 April 2016 on "drought risk reduction in the context of Integrated Water Resources Management" with the financial and technical support of Cap-Net. The course content focused on six (6) modules on Overview of drought / occurrence of droughts, vulnerability and IWRM (Module 1), Vulnerability and impacts of droughts (Module 2), Managing the risks of drought (Module 3), Characterization of droughts, temporal and special scale, monitoring and forecasting ((Module 4), Strategic Planning in IWRM for risk management of drought (Module 5), Preparing for drought, emergency management and post drought recovery (6. Module 6).
The national workshop to validate the results of the study on the proposed agreement on the establishment of the framework and mechanism for cooperation and planning in the Mekrou basin was held on 15 June 2015 in Cotonou, Benin.
In order to support the Municipal Association of Users of natural resources of the Niger Basin of Péhunco (ACU-Péhunco) to implement a micro-project for the mobilization and the integrated management of resources of the Beket reservoir, the community of Beket in the town of Péhunco received a 10-day training session in September 2015 on the construction and use of economic Wanrou stoves. Indeed, this micro-project is in line with the "Shared Vision for the preservation of the Niger Basin ecosystem for its sustainable development" and the "promotion of IWRM in the national portion of Niger Basin" of the WASH-Benin Program.
Many Studies to be carried early 2016 Terms of References (ToRs) were developed and launched in all the three countries for biding. Some offers have already been received and each CWP as well as the regional coordination are following closely.
The project has also requested from each country to submit a proposal of pilot project to be carried in the framework of the Mekrou. Proposals have been received from Burkina, Niger and Benin is still to submit.
The state of the drought situation in the 3 countries involved in the IDMP / WA continues with documents validation meetings on the review of initiatives in drought in Mali and Niger, and continued data collection in Burkina Faso.
Conventions have been with the CWP of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to allow the implementation of pilot projects in the countries during 2016 and continue the consultation meetings of national and regional platforms in the area of Integrated Drought Management.
The Project Manager has seized the opportunity and visited the pilot villages in the rural town of Gouendo in Mali where Mr. Boureima DIARRA, the mayor of the rural town said that "It is always better to teach us how to fish than to give us the fish".