A delegation from the ECOWAS Commission's Water Resources Management Centre (WRMC), led by Mr. Alexis Kouassi, visited the Mano River Union (MRU) Headquarters in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on March 12-13, 2025. This visit aimed to advance the establishment of the MRU’s Cross-border River Basins Management Authority (CRBMA) in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The initiative is part of a broader effort to promote Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) across West Africa.
The visit sought to implement Resolution 6 from the 5th Ordinary Session of the Ministerial Follow-up Committee for IWRM in West Africa held on June 28, 2024, in Abuja. This resolution calls for WRMC's continued support in finalizing new cross-border basin organizations like the CRBMA.
"The WRMC has for long been the torch-bearer for this initiative," with its foundation set in Resolution 7 from a session held in November 2008 in Bamako, Mali. The presence of IUCN/BRIDGE underscored their joint commitment with ECOWAS to provide determined support towards creating the CRBMA within a developing strategic partnership framework.
His Excellency Ambassador Simeon M-B. Moribah, Secretary General of MRU, led the delegation during this working visit and met with Dr. Sao-Kpato Hannah Isatta Macarty, Sierra Leone’s Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation. Dr. Macarty expressed gratitude for WRMC/ECOWAS and IUCN’s support and shared her expectations regarding CRBMA's creation process and potential assistance from ECOWAS concerning water and sanitation.
The meeting concluded with all parties—WRMC/ECOWAS, IUCN/BRIDGE, and MRU—adopting a roadmap targeting CRBMA's establishment by 2026 involving member states Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
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