Rabia Faousia OUEDRAOGO is a young student at the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2IE), in her third year of a degree in Water and Sanitation, who completed an internship at the GWP-WA Regional Secretariat from January to March 2019. As part of her activities, she carried out a field visit on 01 March 2019, in the village of Ramitenga, a rural commune of Loumbila. She spoke with young people and women from the beneficiary population about their participation in the activities of the micro-drip irrigation demonstration project initiated as part of the WACDEP Programme in Burkina Faso.
In this article, Ms. Ouédraogo draws lessons from her forty-five-day stay at GWP-WA Regional Secretariat and makes recommendations following the field mission.
The application of the Water Energy Food Ecosystems Nexus approach to farming plots and the development of green business ideas of local youth from Ghar El Melh led to impressive results: water usage for irrigation was cut by 44%, crop productivity increased by 66%, while 4 new green startups launched their services successfully.
Hobah Pierre ROGOTO, the new Executive Secretary of the Pan African Agency Water and Sanitation (WSA) together with three of his staff were received on 7 May 2018 by the regional secretariat of GWP-WA. The visitors explained that this was a courtesy visit to one of their main partners after the crisis that WSA has undergone for the last years.
Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP-WA) in collaboration with the Country Water Partnership (CWP) of Burkina Faso and the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) organized a regional workshop for journalists from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Togo from 20 to 22 November 2018.
“Water resources management is a learning process”, said GWP Executive Secretary Monika Weber-Fahr while on a visit to South America. She spent 26-29 March meeting with representatives of the key water agencies of Argentina and Chile. Both countries are Sponsoring Partners of GWP, and Weber-Fahr’s visits strengthened a close working relationship with the countries.
Dr. Monika Weber-Fahr, GWP’s new Executive Secretary has visited West Africa in the last week of June. She had a stay in Dakar, Senegal to take part in the World Water Forum’s Board of Governors’ meeting, and in the Climate KIC strategy meeting.
Since CWP Benin is aware that the promotion of integrity has to start at the local level in order to have an impact at the national level, it is committed to supporting municipalities in the implementation of good integrity practices. This support is given to municipalities that have freely committed themselves to adhere to the Charter for Good Governance in the Water Sector.
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated on 11 February - it is implemented by UNESCO and UN-Women, in collaboration with institutions and civil society partners. The day aligns with GWP's Gender Strategy, which addresses diversity and inclusion, social equity, and women's role in the integrated and sustainable management of water resources.