15-11-2018, Nairobi (Kenya): The Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Water and Sanitation of Kenya, Hon. Simon Chelugui, yesterday presided over a meeting which gathered Ministers in charge of water resources at the Member States of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Nairobi.
This ministerial level meeting saw the participation of the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation of South Sudan-Hon. Sophia Pal Gai, the Minister of Water and Environment of Uganda-Hon. Sam Cheptoris, the Deputy Acting Minister of Water of Somalia-H.E. Osman Libah Ibrahim, while Djibouti and Sudan dispatched delegates.
The purpose of this Ministerial Meeting was for Ministers to be provided with a brief on
progress achieved so far on the negotiation processes of the IGAD Regional Water Protocol and for the Ministers to provide further guidance on moving the negotiation processes forward.
Hon. Chelugui noted that there was “need for judicious consideration in the co-operative and equitable development and management of shared water resources”. “We also need to put in place joint legal and institutional frameworks for proper coordination among states,” he said.
He thanked the “IGAD Secretariat for the various initiatives being undertaken across the Region; one of them being this important process on the regional water protocol”.
The Director of Agriculture and Environment Division, Mr. Mohamed Moussa, speaking for IGAD Executive Secretary, recalled the “endorsement of the IGAD Regional Water Resources Policy on 21st January 2015”. He called upon “all the Member States to consider water as an enabling pillar for socio-economic development in the IGAD region and provide guidance towards unlocking the stalled negotiation process of the Regional Water Protocol”.
The Ministerial meeting closed with the signing of the below attached Communiqué.
Download the attached communique in PDF below
Communique’ of the Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Water Resources in the IGAD Region
