On Thursday 26 June, Bamako hosted a national workshop to establish a national coordination body for users of natural resources in the Volta Basin in Mali. The meeting, held at the Hôtel de l’Amitié, was chaired by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy and Water.
‘This national workshop will allow us to deepen our basic reflections and will lead to the establishment of the first National Coordination of Users of Natural Resources in the Volta Basin, that of Mali,’ said Armand Houanye, Executive Secretary of the Global Water Partnership in West Africa (GWP-AO), at the opening of the workshop. The new Coordination, he explained, will now have to position itself with the necessary capacities as a key player in the rational and judicious use of natural resources in the Volta Basin at the local level.
In Mali, the national portion of the Volta Basin (Sourou) crosses the new administrative region of Bandiagara, from which a large delegation travelled to Bamako. This delegation was led by Issaka Cissé, economic and financial advisor to the governor of the Bandiagara region. The latter welcomed the establishment of the Coordination, which will promote dialogue between the populations, local elected officials and national authorities.
Speaking online from Ouagadougou, VBA Executive Director Robert Dessouassi welcomed the creation of Mali’s first National Users’ Coordination Committee (CNU). He emphasised that this was an important step in the management of the Volta Basin’s resources. More than just a mechanism for dialogue, the CNU is, in his view, an essential alert tool for all parties involved in the management of this basin.
Speaking to officially launch the proceedings, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Energy and Water, Djoouro Bocoum, put the initiative into context. The establishment of the CNU is part of the project ‘Reversing the Trends of Ecosystem and Water Degradation in the Volta River Basin’ (REWarD – Volta River Basin). This project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to the tune of US$7.1 million over a period of five years.
Mamadou TOGOLA
