THE CONFERENCE STATEMENT ON WATER RESOURCES MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT IN AFRICA
1. "An African Water Resources Assessment Strategy" was prepared by the WMO/UNECA Conference on Water Resources: Policy and Assessment, which was held in Addis Ababa, from 20 to 25 March 1995 and attended by senior representatives of water
resources agencies from the African region.
2. The objective of the conference was to prepare a strategy to rehabilitate, build and/or
adapt the institutional, financial, manpower and technological capacity of the relevant services of the
countries and regional bodies concerned. The purpose of the strategy is to enable them to assess
water resources within the context of the integrated and comprehensive development and
management of water resources for socio-economic development on a sustainable basis.
3. The strategy has been prepared following the findings and recommendations of the
UNDP/World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa Hydrological Assessment Project and the UNESCO/WMO
Evaluation of Water Resources Assessment.
4. The strategy has taken into account the principles of Chapter 18 of Agenda 21 of the UN
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (1992) and the World Bank Water Resources
Policy and the Water Resources Management Strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa which is under
preparation.
5. The African Water Resources Assessment Strategy is based on a strong determination to
overcome the problems, constraints and conditions that have, in the past, bedeviled water resources
assessment on a sustainable basis. To this end, it is proposed that the water resources agencies
improve their productivity and efficiency; that there be optimal use of human and financial resources;
that external support agencies and UN organizations strengthen the co-ordination of their activities
to support water resources assessment at different levels; that the demand for water resources data
and information be based on the level of socio-economic development, and that there be a strong
political will to co-operate at river, lake and groundwater basin levels.
6. The strategic actions recommended by this conference are in the areas of management
capacity building, promotion and creation of awareness of the capacity of the hydrological services
and the value of hydrological data, attainment of sustainable financial capacity, integrated water
management, regional and sub-regional initiatives and responses, and a new role for external support
agencies.
7. The strategy is recommended to:
- Governments, sub-regional and regional organizations to incorporate it in their water
resources assessment programmes towards sustainable development.
- UN organizations involved in water resources to adopt it for use in their water resources
assessment assistance programmes for countries and sub-regional and regional
organizations;
- External support agencies to incorporate it in the water resources assessment component
of their programmes of assistance for integrated development and management of water
resources at the country, sub-regional and regional levels.
8. The preparation of the strategy by the conference is part of a process for the assessment
of the water resources of the African region. This process will also promote the strategy widely to
appropriate authorities at the national, sub-regional and regional levels and also to the external
support agencies. This strategy will be presented to the UNECA Conference of Ministers and WMO
governing bodies for their endorsement.
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