From the 22nd to 26th November 2021, the 8th Africa Water Week (AWW8) and the 6th AfricaSan are being jointly organised as a virtual conference. During this conference organised by African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) and the African Union Commission, IGRAC will be represented in three sessions. You can attend these, and all other sessions, by registering through: http://bit.ly/awsw2021.
Towards improving groundwater governance in African transboundary aquifers (Wed., 24 Nov. 10:00 - 11:30 AM CET)
UNESCO-IHP is currently implementing the third phase of the project “Governance of Groundwater Resources in Transboundary Aquifers” (GGRETA-3), funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The main goal of GGRETA-3 is to strengthen regional stability, cooperation and peace through the establishment of cooperative frameworks for transboundary groundwater governance in River Basin Organizations (RBOs), Regional Commissions (RCs) and selected aquifers systems in Africa, Central America and Central Asia. The session will create a platform to deliberate on the achievements made by the project towards cooperation and shared development of transboundary aquifers through improving management and governance of the same. The session content will focus on advances in: building institutional and technical capacity of targeted stakeholders trough trainings and tools for informed decision-making; consolidating regional cooperation and setting the base for transboundary aquifer regional strategies; supporting cross-border data exchange towards improved groundwater resources protection and monitoring. The format of the Special Session is a Plenary Discussion where keynote speakers will offer formal presentations. A Question and Answer Session will follow the presentations. IGRAC Director Neno Kukuric will present on the prioritisation of actions within transboundary aquifers.
Groundwater mapping across multiple scales: tools in support of sustainable groundwater resource management (Wed., 24 Nov. 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM CET)
The session will consist of a series of presentations on different groundwater mapping activities in Africa, at different scales and on different topics, including:
- Continental-scale groundwater maps, including the recent map of long-term average recharge, and an overview of the availability of hydrogeological maps for Africa;
- An updated/harmonized version of the hydrogeological map of the ECOWAS region (in preparation) showing expected groundwater potential across West Africa;
- A map/poster about Groundwater in fast growing cities in Western Africa, advocating for regional cooperation, groundwater protection measures and investments in groundwater knowledge and infrastructure;
- Recent advances in georeferencing and digitizing national hydrogeological maps of eSwatini and Lesotho, now accessible in the SADC Groundwater Information System;
- Sub-national groundwater maps for climate resilient WASH in arid and semi-arid regions of Ethiopia;
- if possible, one other national map.
Some time will be secured for Questions & Answers after the presentations. One (ground)water expert from a regional institution will be asked to summarize the main messages and lessons learnt and wrap up the session. IGRAC Researcher Arnaud Sterckx will present the new map about groundwater in fast growing cities in Western Africa.
Advancing cooperation in transboundary aquifers: an innovative approach in the Senegalo-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (Thu., 25 Nov. 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CET)
The session will consist in a series of presentations, including:
- The set-up of the Regional Working Group as preliminary mechanism for cooperation between the four countries, and the validation of its reinforced mandate by the ministerial declaration in September 2021;
- The preliminary assessment of groundwater resources, legal/institutional framework and capacity needs;
- The definition of a common vision and a joint project for the next 5 years, to result in a sustainable mechanism of concerted management;
- The combined role of the Gambia river basin organisation (OMVG) and Senegal river basin organisation (OMVS) as a unique institutional setting in supporting groundwater transboundary cooperation and integrated water resources management (IWRM);
- The opportunities for contributing to the joint project.
- Some time will be secured for Questions & Answers after the presentations.
IGRAC Researcher Arnaud Sterckx will moderate this session.
Register for AWW8
Register for the the African Water Week here: http://bit.ly/awsw2021.