The first water agency in Burkina Faso was created on 22 March 2007 and covers an area of 60,337 km², i.e. 21% of Burkina Faso's surface area, with a population of around 8 million inhabitants, representing 44% of the country's population in 2015. It covers several large cities including the capital Ouagadougou and six (06) regional chief locations, which increases the already strong pressure on the basin's water resources.
May 9-10, 2023, the first China Water Hammer Conference was successfully held in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, attracting hundreds of academicians, experts and scholars.
GWP Eastern Africa Regional coordinator George Sanga joined participants from the Netherlands and 7 Africa countries (Burkina Faso, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, and South Africa), and Dutch Blue Deal partners for a workshop on sustainable financing of Integrated Water Resource Management. He shared the GWPEA experience with implementing the SDG6 IWRM Support Program on how the Blue Deal program can replicate the Matchmaking Initiative pilot in Kenya to mobilize financial resources in target countries.
These topics of water pricing, nature-based solutions, financial opportunities were discussed and an interesting excursion gave insights into the challenges of a local WRUA (Water Resources Users Association) in implementation of a Mangrove restauration project on the shores of the Indian Ocean.
The days when growth was measured just in economic terms are counted. What good is economic growth anyway, if it jeopardises the planet, our life support system, and therefore societal and environmental wellbeing, and ultimately, economic sustainability?
“I am glad that within this short period, I was able to harvest more than 50 kilograms of cassava from the plot allocated to me which I shared with my fellow farmer families and sold the rest in the village market. I especially thank GWP Sri Lanka/SLWP for being with us from the beginning and supporting us in finding planting materials and training us on water efficient home gardening”.
