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dam-l African water resources forum / LS

African Water Management Forum Created

May 31, 1999

DAKAR, Senegal (PANA) - An African Water Resources Management Forum has
been created in Nairobi involving experts from 15
countries.

The forum was created in the Kenyan capital last Friday at the end of the
Africa Water Resources Management Policy Conference.

A news release from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) office
in Nairobi said the forum will serve as an organ ''for the
exchange of knowledge among African water resources management
professionals and practitioners.''

An interim task force will be set up to guide the activities of the Forum
and to contribute to the definition of a long-term African vision for
water for the year 2025, it added.

In the course of the meeting, ministers and officials met in plenary
sessions to discuss national water resource policy reforms.

They recognized the need for adequate strategies to deal with the
prevailing problems of water scarcity and equitable distribution, water
pollution, watershed degradation, water weeds and hyacinth control as well
as the environmental aspects of water management.

The issue of transboundary water resources management was also discussed.
Discussions were also held on economics and financing;
regulation: statutory and customary water law; institutions; and emerging
and innovative arrangements for water resources management and
sustainable utilization.

The World Bank agreed to identify and support, on a short term basis, an
African water resources consultant who will serve as a temporary
secretariat to the task force of the Forum. The goal of the secretariat
will be to facilitate sharing of knowledge on selected areas of water
resources management.

The Conference was sponsored by the World Bank and the Government of Kenya
in cooperation with UNEP, as part of the Global Water
Partnership.

It was attended by representatives from Angola, Burkina Faso, Cote
d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali,
Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa,
Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Also present were representatives of the Governments of the Netherlands,
UK, Sweden and US.



                                   This site is part of AFRICA NEWS ONLINE.

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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