The regional secretariat has organized on 2nd October 2017 a ceremony for the official transfer of services from the outgoing chair, Pr. Abel AFOUDA to the incoming one, Pr. Amadou Hama MAIGA.
After a meeting held with the new Technical Committee (TC) chair in November in Ouagadougou, a larger meeting with the Chair, all Technical Committee members and the staff of the Executive Secretariat was organized in Bamako on 13 to 15 December 2017. The meeting served as a platform for GWP-WA TC members to engage with the Chair and Executive Secretariat on how to work together to advance GWP work at the regional level and in countries in West Africa.
GWP supports mandated institutions in designing and implementing water-related policies, legislation, action plans, strategies, and programmes based on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). GWP offers IWRM technical capacity development activities for officials and technical experts working in the field of water and environmental resources management. Examples include professionals working with river basin organisations, catchment agencies, national, and provincial/state governments.
The adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 is an opportunity to explain why the integrated approach can contribute to meeting the SDGs, particularly since SDG #6 is all about water – and calls for the implementation of integrated water resources management at all levels.
New challenges related to water have strongly emerged in the Mediterranean like those linked with increased migration flows due to conflict, social unrest and degradation of natural resources and well as changing consumption patterns. Linked with these, employment challenges, particularly for the younger generation and women, remain central and in need of long term approaches and substantial action.
