The countries of the Volta Basin, like the other countries of the sub-region, have been confronted for some years now with the adverse effects of climate change, which are reflected in extreme phenomena such as droughts and floods, with significant damage, including loss of human life.
In response to this problem, the project entitled “Integrating Flood and Drought Management and Early Warning for Climate Change Adaptation in the Volta Basin (VFDM)”, financed by the Adaptation Fund, strives every day to provide appropriate solutions with the aim of ensuring sustainable socio-economic development and strengthening the resilience of the populations living there.
This VFDM project aims to develop innovative solutions and approaches in the Volta Basin for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, including “green” solutions as well as participatory and gender-sensitive approaches.
In order to increase the resilience of communities and ecosystems in the Volta Basin, the VFDM Project has planned to develop a strategy for flood and drought risk prevention and management in the Volta Basin, taking into account, among others (i) the results of studies from the implementation of the VFDM Project including the Volta Basin Flood and Drought Risk Profile; (ii) guidelines, policies and strategies for disaster risk management at regional, national and local levels and (iii) input from stakeholders at different levels in the basin.
The process of elaborating this strategic document benefits from the Technical Assistance of the CIMA Foundation and aims at integrating stakeholder consultations through, among others, the organisation of national workshops and a regional workshop of the basin stakeholders for the co-construction, deepening and validation of this regional strategy. It is within this framework that the present national workshop, which brings us together this morning, aims at: (i) to validate the methodological approach of elaboration, validation and adoption of the strategy; (ii) to deepen the state of the art of flood and drought risk management and (iii) to elaborate the different components of the strategy of reduction and management of flood and drought risks in the Volta basin.
