Share
9th World Water Forum in Dakar: basin management in the spotlight !
From 21 to 26 March, the capital of Senegal will host the 9th World Water Forum (WWF), an event that constitutes, every three years, a unique platform for meetings and debates for all the actors of the international water community, who have to take up many water-related challenges, at all scales.
INBO, whose permanent Technical Secretariat is managed by OiEau, has been mobilized for a long time in order to prepare 21 sessions as well as 2 calls for mobilization, on water/ecological security and on basins, to contribute to make this great event a real space for diagnosis, but also a place for proposals for actions and commitments of the States, international organizations and stakeholders of the civil society
This year, the Forum will focus on "Water Security for Peace and Development", and echoes the action priorities of INBO and OiEau, actors of general interest, working for better water management on all continents, for 30 years.
This edition is particularly important for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at the basin level. Indeed, seven years after the consecration of this IWRM-basin approach, with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (including the SDG n°6 dedicated to clean water and sanitation, and the definition of the associated IWRM targets, 6.5.1 and 6.5.2), Dakar will be a unique opportunity to assess the achievement of these targets.
It will also be an important step towards making IWRM-basin a top political priority at the United Nations Water Conference in New York in March 2023, which will be devoted to the mid-term review of the implementation of the objectives of the International Decade for Action "Water and Sustainable Development - 2018-2028".
"For two years, INBO and OiEau have been actively involved in mobilizing the water community around this crucial meeting, which will allow providing concrete action plans on major stakes, such as the need to develop a shared use of water resources, the use of Nature-based Solutions to improve the management of water resources and risks, or the strengthening of the stakeholders' networks." Eric Tardieu, General Manager of OiEau and INBO Secretary General.
Find the programme of all INBO events in Dakar
----
« Dakar 2022 » labelled initiatives
"We hope that by the Forum, development projects can be labelled in order to produce positive effects as close as possible to the populations. In Africa, water needs are urgent and above all multiple. We want the dynamic of the WWF preparation to lead to concrete results on the field » M. Abdoulaye SENE, Co-chair of the International Preparatory Committee of the World Water Forum - Interview conducted during INBO's World GA in 2019
In order to make the 9th World Water Forum a place for concerted exchange which answers concrete field problems, carried by local stakeholders and citizens, OiEau and INBO support various initiatives labelled "Dakar 2022.
« Voix du fleuve, voie de la paix »
Supported by the Organisation de Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal (OMVS) and sponsored by INBO and many partners, the objective of this action is to improve development around the Senegal River Basin through concerted and creative strategic thinking and to bring the voice of local populations in the decision-making bodies of the WWF!
The initiative has several components, including the Festival « A Sahel Ouvert » (FASO), organised by the Globe association, which celebrated its 6th edition on 25, 26 & 27 February! More than 3,000 people gathered to learn about and discuss the various water issues in Mboumba, near the Senegal River, in the north of the country!
An original programme was dedicated to the theme of Water and Peace, mixing musical performances, artistic workshops, debates and educational meetings. Artists, experts, elected officials, riverside populations, entrepreneurs..., a multiplicity of actors were present to make this Festival a space for collective and inclusive reflection on Integrated Water Resources Management in the Senegal River Basin.
Out of 11 innovative projects, 4 young people obtained a 2 million FCFA (about 3000 €) funding and a place to attend the WEF debates! A special session of restitutions of the initiative is planned on March 23, 2022 (1:30 to 3:00 pm - CICAD auditorium), in order to present the concerns and proposals for solutions brought by the local populations, for a better inclusion of local issues in the global advocacy for water and peace!
IWRM project in the Somone basin
The Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) project in the Somone basin, for which OiEau provides technical support, in partnership with the Seine-Normandy Water Agency, has become a reality with the creation of a sub-committee for water planning and management and the holding of a Basin Assembly, a first for Senegal!
In parallel with the WWF, a sub-regional workshop took place from 16 to 18 March around the Somone basin, in the presence of many partners (local and French elected officials, PS-Eau, French Water Agencies. ) to boost dialogue, echoing the Forum's thematic sessions related to IWRM at the basin level (3A2: building capacities for the preparation and implementation of development plans for IWRM) and international and transboundary cooperation (3C3: decentralization of solidarity: engaging regional and local authorities to complement inter-state cooperation)!
100 water and climate projects for Africa
The aim of this initiative is to support the emergence of projects through technical assistance for the incubation of non-infrastructural climate change adaptation programmes (governance, knowledge and capacity building of institutions and professionals, basin-wide planning, financing mechanisms).
The management of the initiative has been assigned to INBO, Secretariat of the Global Alliances for Water and Climate (GACW), in the framework of the Incubation Platform it has been leading since 2016. In this capacity, INBO seeks and selects relevant project proposals, and co-establishes and secures the budget required for incubation. The latter must be modest compared to the implementation budget, with a leverage effect of at least 1 to 100. INBO provides technical support to project leaders to meet the requirements and procedures of climate finance donors.
The emergence of more ambitious and innovative projects is a necessity all over the world and particularly in Africa.
Find out more about the projects supported: https://www.riob.org/en/incubation