On November 5, 6 and 7, 2019, a regional workshop was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to validate the document of the REWarD Project (Inversion of trends in ecosystem and water degradation in the Volta Basin).
Faced with the challenges of protecting ecosystems and waters in the Volta Basin, the Volta Basin Authority, in collaboration with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN-PACO) and the United Nations Program United Nations Environment (UNEP) organized a regional workshop to validate the REWarD Project document.
It was under the effective chairmanship of Mr. Ambroise Niouga OUEDRAOGO , Minister of Water and Sanitation of Burkina Faso, Minister responsible for the ABV. This workshop, which brought together around thirty participants from BV member countries (ABV National Focal Points, FEM Operational Focal Points) and technical and financial partners, aims to allow participants to take ownership and validate the content of the project document, drawn up in close connection with the Volta Basin Strategic Action Program, a reference framework document guiding the various interventions in the basin .
This project, which was born out of the ashes of the Volta Basin Strategic Action Program Implementation Project (VSIP), is for the ABV , “ an opportunity to capitalize on lessons learned, to capitalize on achievements and to continue development actions with and for our valiant populations ”, said the Minister in his opening speech.
For the Executive Director of the Volta Basin Authority, Mr. Robert Y. DESSOUASSI, “ the current issues in our shared river space are known, they are of several orders, diverse and varied with levels of gravity as important as each other and causes linked in particular to anthropogenic pressures ”.
This new Project, which attempts to provide the beginnings of a response to these challenges, is structured into four components:
► Component 1 : Improvement of the knowledge base and development of management tools for an informed decision-making process;
► Component 2 : Capacity building for governance, cross-border planning and extreme events linked to climate change and / or variability;
► Component 3 : Conservation and restoration of ecosystems in the Volta basin;
► Component 4 : Knowledge management and sharing and Monitoring – Evaluation.
The five-year REWarD Project is funded by the Global Environment Facility to the tune of 7,000,000 Euros, with two Executing Agencies (GEF, IUCN) and four Implementing Agencies (ABV, IUCN-Burkina Faso, GWP / AO and DHI).
