IUCN PREE 2020 - 2022 (fas 1): Vattenresurshantering och konfliktförebyggande

A summary of achievements under the program: - The result of various studies carried out through this project have made it possible to establish a baseline on the ecosystems and the environment in the basins of the sub-region, namely the Niger basin, Lake Chad and the Fouta Djallon Highland. It was not possible to establish a socio-economic baseline. The baselines produced by the project were expected to be used for planning, implementation and monitoring of integrated ecosystem management. The next step, after this program, would be for IUCN and its partners to monitor the use of these baselines for their inteded purpose. - The project supported the establishment of local water committees in Ghana, Chad, Cameroon, Togo, Benin and Mali; supported the revision of Togo's environmental master law, now ready for submission for adoption; and enabled Mali to develop and adopt a strategic plan for the operationalization of the water police. These institutional and operational frameworks are expected to enable the operationalization of an integrated management of water resources, the environment and climate change. The frameworks have been requested by the contries concerned, and the likelihood of their application is therefore considered relatively high. IUCN and its partners will continue to follow up in one way or another to identify any constraints to their application. - Actors from basin organizations and water agencies in Central and West Africa have been made aware of the need to include conflict management in their interventions related to the integrated management of water resources. Thus, actors from basin organizations and national water agencies in West and Central African countries have been provided with knowledge on the types and causes of conflicts related to water and natural resources. They also learned about the different approaches to managing this type of conflict, including the IWRM and cross-border cooperation mechanisms for conflict management. It is worth nothing that an effective implementation of the IWRM approach has potential to manage or prevent conflicts related to water and associated natural resources. This approach remains relevant even in the context where the central Government is almost absent, by bringing together all the users of water resources at all administrative levels IWRM makes it possible to promote a peaceful coexistence. The context of decentralization in most countries allows the implementation of IWRM at the local level, however efforts are still needed to provide local actors with the skills required for an effective application of IWRM. - Through the provision of equipment and skills groups of beneficiaries have transformed into small entrepreneurs who sustainably value the services of the ecosystems in the river basins of the region. The project has satisfied a strong demand from lake and river basin communities for technologies and practices for the restoration and sustainable management of their ecosystems. Although interrupted, the momentum created in these targeted communities shows their high commitment to continue economic and restoration initiatives.

The general objective of the program is to: Strengthen the resilience of natural ecosystems and local communities in the river and lake basins in West and Central Africa. The specific objective of the project is to: Strengthen the implementation of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) and the resilience of communities and ecosystems to prevent and manage conflict over the use of natural resources in the basins of the rivers Niger, Volta and Mono, the Lake Chad and the Fouta Djallon heights. Linked to the specific objective, there are six expected outcomes and 35 activities: 1. A baseline description is established of the environmental, socio-economic and ecosystem related situation in the sub-basins of Niger, Lake Chad and the Fouta Djallon heights, to serve as a knowledge base and planning tool for the integrated management of ecosystems in these basins. 2. Operational and institutional frameworks and legal instruments to operationalize IWRM, environment and climate change are adopted and applied by countries and basin organizations 3. Institutional, technical and operational capacities of the river basin organizations with regard to conflict sensitivity and IWRM are strengthened.  4. Frameworks for participation, dialogue and conflict prevention and management around natural resources are established and strengthened at the basin level and in national and regional strategies.  5. Initiatives to develop economic activities and to restore ecosystems are identified and supported with the purpose of securing livelihoods and strengthen resilience of local communities to climate change and natural disasters. 6. Project results, experiences and lessons learnt are effectively tracked, monitored, documented and disseminated with the purpose of contributing to the development of national, regional and international policy.