IGAD Provides Support to the 4th Nile Basin Development Forum

(L) Fred Mwango-INWRMP Team Leader, John R. Nyaoro, Daher Elmi (R)

Nairobi, 06-10-2014: The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) brought financial support to the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) for their 4th Nile Basin Development Forum held in Nairobi on October 06-07, 2014, while giving all IGAD member states officials, whether part of the NBI or not, the opportunity to attend the Forum in preparation of the First IGAD Forum on Water set for early December this year in Nairobi.

The official opening ceremony was presided over by Prof. Judi W. Wakhungu, Cabinet Secretary-Ministry of Environment, Water, and Natural Resources (MEWNR) of Kenya with facilitation from Mr. John R. Nyaoro, NBI Executive Director, who thanked IGAD for contributing to “making this happen” along with other sponsors. Key note addresses were given by ministerial level officials from Tanzania, Sudan, and from high level personalities from World Bank, and a U.S. water management Centre (CADWES).

Mr. Daher Elmi, Programme Manager of Natural Resources-IGAD, was leading the IGAD delegation sitting in this Forum. “IGAD is pleased to support this NBI Forum. This Forum is being organized for the fourth time. And we are here to share experience with NBI as we are planning to organize our First IGAD Water Dialogue Forum on December 3rd-5th here in Nairobi”, Daher said. According to Daher, this is also the opportunity to network and start liaising with more water professionals and institutions active in the region and around the world with knowledge of the water issues in IGAD region.

Mr. Ismael Elmi, Adviser to the Djibouti Minister of Agriculture, and member of the INWRMP Technical Advisory Committee and the INWRMP Steering Committee, was attending an NBI Forum for the first time as Djibouti is not part of the Initiative. “We thank IGAD INWRMP for granting us the chance to attend in order for us to foresee how things will look like, or should like more or less, as for the upcoming IGAD Water Dialogue Forum. Most IGAD countries are represented here as part of the NBI; and the fact that IGAD took care of bringing on board nonmembers states of the NBI to attend is significant to Djibouti Ministry of Agriculture. This ensures that we are better prepared to contribute to the First IGAD Water Forum” Ismael said.

INWRMP, an IGAD programme funded by the European Union, aims at strengthening national and regional capacities in the field of water management and the development of regional water dialogue and cooperation for sustainable water resources management in the greater Horn of Africa region.