Thursday, December 8th, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM
Session coordinator: AMCOW
Session contributor: IGRAC
The critical role of groundwater as a catalyst for socioeconomic development in Africa cannot be overemphasized. Although at the scale of the continent Africa has vast groundwater resources, many still lack access to adequate and safe water for basic human needs. Therefore, the overwhelming priority for most countries is to improve access, first to basic water services and eventually to safely managed household supplies. Nonetheless, climate change is increasing the frequency of floods and droughts, leading to recurrent surface water scarcity and threatening the progress made so far in the provision of water and sanitation services. In addition, rapid increases in water demand due to population growth, urbanization and environmental degradation adds to the pressure and increases the need for an expansion in climate-resilient water services. Hence, groundwater development offers great potential for Africa to meet increasing demands for resilient water. However, these resources needed to be developed inclusively and managed sustainably for the benefits to be realised for the overall livelihood and socio-economic development of Africa.
The aim of this session is to beam a spotlight on groundwater, while calling attention to its contributions to the overall socio-economic transformation of Africa. An overview on African Groundwater Resources will be given, followed by a panel discussion. The intention is to generate a continental perspective on topics including groundwater governance, groundwater resources assessments, capacity development and investments to advance SDG 6 in Africa.
Speakers
- Rashid Mbaziira(Session introduction and Moderation)AMCOW, Executive Secretary
- Hon Carl H.G Schlettwein(High Level Keynote Address)Namibia, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform
- Moshood Tijani(Overview Presentation)AMCOW, Secretary
- Ralph Watzel(Panelists)Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR, Germany), President
- Christophe Guillou(Panelists)Sustainable Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France, Director
- Ousseynou Guene(Panelists)AfDB, Manager
- James Sauramba(Panelists)SADC Groundwater Management Institute, Director
- Abou Amani(Panelists)UNESCO Division of Water Sciences and Secretary of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP), Director
- Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata(Rapporteur)AMCOW, TAC CHAIR
- Gergino CHOUNNA YEMELE(Rapporteur)UNESCO Groundwater Youth Network, RWSN, CSDMS, Environmental Engineer, GWYN Africa Regional Lead