IGRAC and the ISARM West and Central Africa

Image

IGRAC participated in the First ISARM Central Africa and Second ISARM West-Africa workshop in Douala, Cameroon on 16-19 May 2011.

Objectives of the workshop

  • Present and discuss findings of studies conducted in West Africa following the recommendations of the first ISARM West Africa meeting in 2007
  • Present preliminary inventory of transboundary aquifers in central African countries
  • And establish ISARM Central Africa component
  • Present the UN General Assembly adopted articles on transboundary aquifers management
  • Present the AFD/UNESCO guide on transboundary aquifers management
  • Discuss the strategy to mainstream groundwater in river basins organizations activities for a conjunctive management of both surface and groundwater
  • Agree on the strategy for the sustainability of ISARM activities in West and Central Africa

The meeting was attended by country representatives of Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Gabon, Cameroon, RDC, Chad, France, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Niger, Mali, Guinea, Gambia, RCA, Congo Brazzaville, Rwanda. Regional organisations like GWP West and Central-Africa, ECOWAS, the Niger Basin authority, OMVS attended as well.

Based on the presentation, a number of new TBA's were identified for these regions. During the workshop the location and delineations were provisionally drafted on a map.  

IGRAC's involvement

In the next year, IGRAC will coordinate the detailed delineation of the TBAs in Western- and Central Africa in close cooperation with UNESCO-IHP/ ISARM. The individual countries will draw their supposed or potential TBA''s delineations more precisely. IGRAC will collect all individual country contributions and compile them in TBA maps and facilitate the iterative process that leads to multi-laterially agreed delineations.