Pr. Abel AFOUDA visited the secretariat from 21 to 26 March 2016. He discussed with the personnel all issues from traditional running ones to project technical and planning issues.
The 6th General meeting of the African Network of Basin Organisations took place from 20 – 22 September 2016 at Lemigo Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. The meeting took stock of the state of implementation of the resolutions and on the achievements of African network since the holding of the 2015 general meeting.
After the Municipal / Communal and Local elections which took place in Benin leading to the renewal of decision-making bodies at municipal level, the CWP Benin has initiated a training session on the advocacy techniques for local water stakeholders. The participants included members of the National Association of Users of the national portion of the Niger Basin (UNA-Benin, the Consultation Framework of non-state actors in the water sector and sanitation (Canea), the Local Water Partnerships (PLE) of Mono and Couffo, the Consumers Associations of Drinking Water (CAPE) and the social intermediation NGOs
GWP West Africa, Eau Vive (a French NGO), IRC, the municipality of Dori in Burkina Faso and other partners celebrated the World Water Day in Dori (northern part of Burkina) by paying a tribute to GWP WA's former Chair Honorable Hama Arba Diallo who passed away on 31 October 2014. A series of activities were done starting with a panel discussion on the topic « Leadership for the access to water and sanitation, the role and place of local officials : Example of Hama Arba Diallo ».
In Sub Saharan Africa Climate Change is worsening an already alarming situation vis-à-vis food security and water resources and everyone has a responsibility to develop/ use appropriate means to address the issue.
Nine countries in Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda) carried out national consultations on water and food security whose outcomes were used by (or contributed for) the United Nations Committee on Food Security (UN CFS) to issue recommendations on Water and Food Security and Nutrition at the end of 2015 offering a strong basis for a new momentum.
The Executive Secretary of GWP, Rudolph Cleveringa, says that GWP as a network needs to change: “We can’t use the same agenda as we did 20 years ago”. On World Water Day 2016, Cleveringa takes a moment to reflect on GWP’s 20 years in the water world and talks about his vision on how to make the network fit for the future. Read more
Tunisian officials discussed the country’s possible accession to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) during a national workshop "Benefits of cooperation and the UNECE Water Convention", held in Tunis on 21 and 22 September 2016.
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".
The Summer University of Samothraki 2016 took place on 9 - 22 July 2016 on the island of Samothraki in Greece. The summer university consisted of two parallel courses: Course A on “Aquatic and Social Ecology-Theory and Practice” and Course B on “Integrated Water and Coastal Management - Educational and Participatory Approaches”.