The national IWRM focal points of the 15 ECOWAS Member States, regional basin organizations, technical and financial partners, and ministers in charge of water resources from these states are expected to convene from June 25 to 28, 2024, in Abuja, Nigeria. The event is organized by the ECOWAS Water Resources Management Centre (WRMC).
The West African Ministerial Conference on Integrated Water Resources Management held in Ouagadougou from March 3 to 5, 1998, marked a significant shift for the then 16 ECOWAS countries towards integrated and participatory water resources management. This approach aligns with principles adopted at the Dublin preparatory conference in January 1992 and endorsed by UNCED in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. The recommendations led to the adoption of the Regional Action Plan for Integrated Water Resources Management in West Africa (RAPIWRM-WA) by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in December 2000. Subsequently, a Permanent Coordination and Monitoring Framework (PCMF) for IWRM was established by decision of the same authority in December 2001.
Since its last meeting held in Dakar in November 2015, there has been a notable lethargy within the regional IWRM process. The upcoming sessions aim to reinvigorate this process with an emphasis on revisiting strategies and identifying future work prospects considering recent developments.
The meetings will occur over two stages. From June 25 to 27, the Technical Committee of Experts (CTE) will review resolutions from previous sessions and present various reports including CGRE/ECOWAS activity report for 2016-2023, draft program and budget for CGRE/ECOWAS for 2024, state of implementation of PREAO initiatives among others.
On June 28, the Ministerial Monitoring Committee will convene its fifth ordinary session to discuss several critical issues such as the draft strategic plan of CGRE-ECOWAS for 2020-2030, directives on hydraulic infrastructure development and shared water resources management in West Africa; relaunching programs promoting new transboundary basin organizations; institutional reforms within PCMF; and operationalizing the Regional Water Observatory.
Participants expected at these sessions include IWRM National Focal Points from all ECOWAS Member States; focal points from regional Basin Organizations like ABCBT, ABN, ABV among others; representatives from sub-regional institutions such as UEMOA and CILSS; African Regional Institutions like AMCOW; technical partners including PACO-IUCN; as well as various ECOWAS entities involved in water resource management.
Ministers responsible for water resources across all ECOWAS Member States along with the ECOWAS Commissioner overseeing water resources will attend the fifth session of MMC.
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