National Interaction Workshop on W/African Water Resources Policy

The ECOWAS Commission yesterday reviewed the West African Water Resources Policy (WAWRP) at a daylong interaction workshop held at the Atlantic Hotel in Banjul.

The workshop was held to let the commission update national stakeholders in the water sector on the WAWRP.

Amadou Saine, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters, deputising Minster Lamin Kaba Bajo, said that during the last two decades, the need for new approaches to the assessment, development and management of fresh water resource has taken the spotlight at various global meetings.

The permanent secretary said the international conference on water and the environment (ICWE)  held in Dublin in January 1992, after reviewing the evidence, called for  new fundamental approaches to the assessment, development and management of freshwater resource.

"The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, confirmed the widely held view that a new paradigm for water resources management was a necessity," he said.

According to him, over the past decade, a number of West African countries including the Gambia participated in the West Africa Integrated Water Resource Management process at ministerial level in 1998, 2000 and 2003.

"Most recently, the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government adopted the West African Water Resource Policy as a general framework and guidance for cooperation between ECOWAS Member States in the field of water resources," he said.

He commended the members of the National Climate Committee for their commitment and sense of purpose in implementing the project.

The occasion was chaired by the director of water resources, Pa Ousman Jarjue, and participants were drawn within and outside the country.