West Africa Water Partnership wants deeper collaboration

Hama Arba Diallo, Chair of the GWP/WA

The West African chapter of the Global Water Partnership (GWP/WA) has re-emphasised the need for greater cooperation in the management and utilisation of various water resources traversing the sub-region.
The GWP/WA, however, appreciates ongoing collaborative work, particularly through ECOWAS and other political and development organisations as well as River Basin organisations.
Hama Arba Diallo, Chair of the GWP/WA says: “West Africa is more concerned by the major challenges encountered in the management of Water resources. Our region is one of the poorest with weak governance structures and poorly designed infrastructures. No single country can get through the major challenges. We have to come together and the West African countries have well understood that.”
He was speaking at the 5th Assembly of Partners of GWP/WA which came off in Accra on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. Organised under the theme: "Water cooperation in West Africa: Meeting the challenge of commitments?” the meeting afforded participants the opportunity to, among others,  discuss the 2014-2019 GWP strategy and give guidance on the 2014-2016 work plan for West Africa.
A common view from Tuesday’s gathering was that if for nothing at all, the Partnership wants sub-regional leaders to be motivated by projected adverse effects of climate change to deepen their cooperation in order to maximise utilisation of water resources and access for the sub-region’s populations.
But to the extent that the global north or the west has historical responsibility for climate change, they ought to support efforts by countries in the sub-region to combat climate impacts, particularly on water resources, the Chair told journalists on the sidelines of the conference.
Participating in Tuesday’s meeting were members from the various River Basin organisations, including the Niger Basin Authority (ABN), the Organisation for the Development of the Gambia River (OMVG), the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and Volta Basin Authority (VBA).
Climate change
The impact of the phenomenon is highlighted in a report released recently by WaterAid under the heading, “Keeping Promises:  why African leaders need now to deliver on their past water and sanitation commitments.”
According to the report, climate change adds to future uncertainties for the water and sanitation sector and World Bank president Jim Yong Kim warned that the world is heading for a four degree centigrade warming above pre-industrial climate with devastating scenarios, such as extreme droughts and floods. Many communities, especially the rural poor, depend on streams and swamps, which dry up during severe droughts. Niger suffered from drought and famine in 2012, and the Sahel region is vulnerable to increasing desertification.
“Critical water resources such as Lake Chad – on which Niger and its neighbours depend for water and livelihoods – are in rapid decline, with Lake Chad on current trends potentially disappearing altogether in the next 20 years. Water scarcity also impacts on energy provision, with many countries in East and West Africa reliant on hydropower,” the report said. 
This story was initially published on infoghana.com on May 8, 2013.