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.
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).
Dr. Nicole Bernex is a Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a Member of the GWP Technical Committee. She has been active in the GWP network for many years, the past ten of them through GWP Peru. When asked to talk about a topic close to her heart, Dr. Bernex chooses a project that GWP has been running successfully in Peru for the past two years, the Santa Eulalia Water, Climate and Development Programme.
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.
Ivory Coast has celebrated World Water Day 2016 and the second edition of the National Water Week from March 22 to 24. The topic of celebration was inspired from the global theme: "Ivory Coast, emerging in 2020: what contributions of the water sector to creating jobs and wealth? »
On Tuesday, March 22, 2016, the 23rd edition of the World Water Day was celebrated by the National Institute of water (INE) and CWP Benin with support from CARE, Abms PSI and water Company FIFA. A panel debate was organized on the Campus of the University of Abomey Calavi (UAC), in the presence of the Rector of the University Brice SINSIN on the theme “Water sector in Benin: What employment opportunities for young people?" in relation to the global topic “Water and Employment."
Cooperation between GWP Slovakia and the Eastern Africa region has been in existence for quite some time. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Khartoum in March to outline the next steps of collaboration.
Responding to the dramatic increase in extreme weather events and mega disasters is one of the great challenges of the Limpopo River Basin. Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is a top priority for the basin as it seeks to hold back the tide of rising economic and human losses through flood and droughts. To reduce risks from such disasters, GWPSA has over the past 2 years been involved in the development of a disaster risk reduction action plan for the Limpopo Basin. This Plan of Action presents a strategy for integrating disaster risk reduction into the Limpopo transboundary level operations. As part of the process to developing the plan, GWPSA held a workshop on the 5th of April, 2016, to validate the draft DRR action plan of the Limpopo Basin.