Background and Justification
Sustainable water solutions, whether at the local, regional and global levels, require creativity, new in scientific knowledge, discoveries and innovations through strong scientific cooperation. Innovation geared towards sustainable development has the potential to lift economic growth, create green jobs, and boost inclusive social development while at the same time contributing advances to water protection and conservation.
The Science, on which solutions to the present and future global water management problems fall, is truly multidisciplinary and inherently interdisciplinary. It also embodies the fundamental physical and biological sciences as well as applications of those sciences and substantial contributions from the engineering sciences, management sciences (including economics), law, hydrology, climatology, and hydrogeology.
However, there is the need to address a host of institutional, policy and management issues which have been largely neglected in recent decades. Significant scientific information is already available, but much more is required in the near future in terms of technological advances, improvement in climate modeling and forecasting, and developments in ecosystem and sustainability science.
New and innovative contributions will be needed from all of the social sciences. These contributions are critical for understanding water-use behaviour and for devising effective institutions to manage water in times of intense scarcity. On the other hand, providing solutions to the current global water challenges require upscaling of existing local approaches and knowledge of the inter-relations amongst: environmental conditions; the state of waters; and water management instruments and techniques at the local, national and regional levels. However and very importantly, there is the need to reinforce and enhance scientific collaborations in the existing water management networks in the region.
From the foregoing, and to further strengthen the South-South cooperation on water security between Asia and the Pacific and Africa, a workshop titled “Inter-Regional Workshop on South-South Cooperation for Upscaling Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Ecohydrology as Tools for Achieving Water security in Africa” is proposed to be held in Abuja-Nigeria from 24th – 26th January, 2017.
The workshop is supported by the Malaysian Funds-in-Trust and a collaborative effort of the Regional Sciences Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, the UNESCO Category 2 Regional Centre for Integrated River Basin Management (RC-IRBM), UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office, Abuja and the National Water Resources Institute (NWRI). The workshop will use Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) and Ecohydrology as tools for delivering Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), and up-scale the existing approaches in water management with scientific collaborations and tools to support, design and implement IWRM and Ecohydrology strategies and policies for sustainable water resources management in Africa.
This Inter-Regional Workshop will bring together Experts, Water Resources Practitioners, Managers, Policy Makers, Scientists, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), Indigenous and Community Organizations from Asia and the Pacific and Africa to share knowledge and collaborate on innovative ideas that can improve the sustainable management of water resources in Africa.
Objective
The main objective of this workshop is to strengthen south-south cooperation in providing solutions to current global challenges by upscaling existing local approaches in IWRM for water security in Africa
The specific objectives of the workshop are to:
- Provide enhanced insight on modern approaches to implementing IWRM and how HELP and Ecohydrology can be used as practical tools for delivering IWRM in Africa;
- Create awareness on upscaling existing local approaches and knowledge of the interrelationships between water and environment to reinforce and enhance understanding of IWRM and Ecohydrology;
- Create platform for participants to freely interact with one another, exchange scientific knowledge and experiences on practical innovations for implementing IWRM; and
- Strengthen south-south cooperation on water management and water security between the two regions
Programme Agenda
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Programme Agenda
Day 1: 24 January 2017
| Programme Agenda | Resource Person |
|---|---|
| Session 1-Opening Ceremony | |
| Welcome Address | Executive Director NWRI – Dr E. A. ADANU |
| Welcome Remarks | Regional Director and Representative, UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office, Abuja – Dr Benoit SOSSOU |
| Keynote Address | Director, UNESCO Regional Office for Sciences in Asia and the Pacific – Professor Shahbaz KHAN |
| Key Remarks | H. E. High Commissioner of Malaysia – Datuk Lim Juan Jin |
| Address by the Special Guest of Honour/Official Opening of the Workshop | The Honourable Minister of Water Resources, Federal Republic of Nigeria – Engr. Suleiman Hussaini ADAMU FNSE |
| Presentation of IWRM book to Guest of Honour + Group Photo Session | |
| Overview of the Concept of the Workshop/ Workshop Agenda | Head, RC-IRBM – Dr Omogbemi O YAYA |
| Session 2 – Case Study from Asia Pacific | |
| UNESCO Regional Water activities in Asia and the Pacific | Dr. Ai SUGIURA (SKYPE) |
| Performance Evaluation of the Integrated Sustainable Eco-technologies for Waste Water Treatment – A case Study | Prof. Dr. Hamza GABRIEL |
| Lessons learned from Implementations of Eco- hydrology approach in Indonesia | Prof. Hidayat PAWITAN |
| Scientific Collaborations and Tools to Support in Design, Implement, IWRM, Ecohydrology and Policies in Malaysia | Dr. Norlida Mohd. DOM |
| Watershed Water Vision : A Way Forward for Sustainable Water Resources Management in Langat River Basin, Malaysia | Prof. Dr. Mohd. Ekhwan TORIMAN |
| Session 3 – Case Study from West Africa | |
| Benin – COMMENT AMELIORER LA MISE EN ŒUVRE DE LA GIRE ET REALISER LA SECURITE DE L’EAU EN AFRIQUE GRACE A LA COOPERATION SUD-SUD: cas du BÉNIN | Adolphe Mondjangni DEGNIDE |
| Cape Verde – Vulnerability and Risk of Pollution of Underground Waters in the Island of Santiago | Antonio Pedro SAID ALY DE PINA |
| Cote d’Ivoire – Gestion Integree Des Ressources en Eau En Cote D’Ivoire: Etat Des Lieux | Toure BASSALIA |
| Ghana – Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management in Ghana – The case of the Densu River Basin | Dr Ronald Kwabena ABRAHAMS |
| Guinea – Etat D’Advancement de la Gire en Guinee | Mariama Dalanda DIALLO |
| Session 4 – Case Study from West Africa (continued) | |
| Liberia – Integrated water management in Liberia | Shadrach Toteh WOLO |
| Mali – Presentation Programme Confoint a’la Gestion des Resources eu Eau | Mouhamed Oumar CISSE |
| Nigeria – The Challenges of Institutionalising IWRM in Nigeria | Lawal Kola MAROOF |
| Sierra Leone – Water Resources Management-A Case Study of Rokel River Basin in Sierra Leone | Mohamed Sahr E. JUANAH |
| Togo – Etat Des Lieux De La Gire Au Togo: Enjeux et Perspectives | Rachid BARRY |
| Session 5 – Case Studies from Regional River Basin Organisations (RRBOs) | |
| Organization pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Senegal (OMVS) – Un Execellent Carde de Gestion Intergree de Ressoures en Eau Transfrontelleries, de manniere Cooperatie et Pacifique (Guinee – Mali – Mauritanie – Senegal) | Mr. Alpha Oumar BALDE |
| Volta Basin Authority (VBA) – Local Policies as a Tools for the Integrated Water Resources Management in the Volta Basin: Case of Ghana, Togo and Benin Countries Portions. | Dr. Rafatou FOFANA |
| Session 6 – Water Related Centres in Africa | |
| African Regional Centre for Ecohydrology – Nature Based Solution to addressing water ecosystem challenges, the adverse effects of climate change and economic development in Ethiopia | Mr. Yohannes Zerihun NEGUSSIE |
| ECOWAS Water Resources Coordination Centre – Le processus regional de gestion integree des resources en eau en Afrique de l’Ouest: cadre de mise en oeuvre, bilan. (The regional process of integrated water resources management in West Africa: Implementation framework, assessment, challenges and prospects) | Mr. Mahamane Dedeou TOURE |
| East African Case Study – Contribution of South-South Cooperation to Africa Water Upscaling with respect to Sudan Experience | Prof. Dr. Abdalla Abdelsalam AHMED |
| Foundation for the Conservation of Nigerian Rivers – Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in River Ethiopia Watershed: IWRM at river basin level-Achievements, Challenges, Lessons and Way forward. | Prince Irikefe V. DAFE |
