Remarks by
Josué Dioné
Director, Sustainable Development Division
UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
At the Meeting of the Executive Committee of AMCOW, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, 29 June 2005
Your Excellency Mrs. Maria Mutagamba,
President of AMCOW,
Your Excellency Ato Shiferaw Jarso, Minister of Water Resources
of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and Vice-President
of AMCOW,
Honourable Ministers of the AMCOW Executive Committee,
Distinguished Representatives of the African Union and the African
Development Bank;
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
On behalf of the Executive Secretary of
ECA, it is my honour and pleasure to welcome you here again, about
18 months after we were privileged to have you during the Pan
African Implementation and Partnership Conference on Water (PANAFCON).
We are glad to note that the substantive
outcomes of your deliberations provided the impetus and policy
guidance for many successful initiatives for the development of
the African water sector. Indeed, the outcomes of the PANFCON
have set out the path to the efficient development and management
of Africa’s water resources to meet the Millennium Development
Goals and the targets of the African Water Vision 2025.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
The role of water in Africa’s struggle
against the trinity of poverty, disease and environmental degradation
is considerable in terms of scale and potential impact. A victory
in this struggle will assure the welfare of the current and future
generations of Africans. But the task is too big to be left to
technicians alone, and relentless political will must be provided
by AMCOW.
Indeed, based on Africa’s track record
on program implementation, it is going to be an uphill struggle
for the continent to meet the MDGs, including that of water. This
is made even more poignant when one considers the fact that, due
to its crosscutting nature, achieving the Water MDG is a major
factor in achieving almost all the other MDGs, from Health to
Education and others.
Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In February 2004, the UN General Assembly
declared the period 2005-2015 as the International Decade for
Action: “ Water for Life”. The Launch of this event,
here in Addis Ababa last March, provides additional impulse for
concrete actions and a move from the drawing tables to concrete
and mortar. This new Decade offers Africa a chance to make amends
and we must seize it to ensure that the objectives of the African
Water Vision 2025 and the Millennium Development Goals are achieved.
As you are aware, the goals of the International
Decade “Water for Life: are to:
· Generate and sustain greater focus
on water-related issues at all levels both spatially (global,
regional, national and local) and functionally (political, technical
and social);
· Focus on implementation of water-related
programmes and projects -- Our Pan African Conference on Water
held here was a step ahead in this effort;
· Ensure active, effective and fruitful
participation and involvement of women in all aspects in water-related
development efforts – a goal of particular importance to
our Region; and
· Promote international cooperation
and partnership for achieving the international targets.
To achieve these goals, the General Assembly
calls on all UN bodies, specialized agencies and Regional Commissions
such as ECA to deliver a coordinated response, utilizing existing
resources and voluntary funds to make “Water for Life”
a decade for ACTION.
Within the United Nations family, there
is a firm commitment to support Africa in attaining the objectives
set out. In this regard, UN Water/Africa, which coordinates UN
Water activities in Africa, has taken the lead in launching the
Decade. All major UN Agencies involved in the water sector contributed
to this launch, and stand by your side in facing up to the challenge.
At the ECA, our support to the development
of the water sector focuses on the following:
· Facilitating coherence in the
actions of the UN System in the sector through our role as Secretariat
of UN Water/Africa, and providing a platform for policy and technical
dialogue;
· Developing a Monitoring mechanism
to assess progress made through a biennial African Water Development
Report (AWDR);
· Developing a comprehensive African
Water Resources Information Clearing House (AWICH). www.uneca.org/awich;
· Providing Technical Assistance
through our Regional Advisory programme with a focus on National
Water Policies; and
· Providing technical support to
emerging issues and initiatives in the water sector in Africa
such as:
ü Gender and Water Resources Management;
ü Utilization of Space Applications for the Management of
Water Resources (within the framework of the TIGER Programme with
the European and Canadian Space Agencies);
ü Assessment of Inter-Basin Water Transfers; and
ü Public-Private Partnerships in the development of water
resources.
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
To conclude, we are pleased to say that
we have come very far since The Second World Water Forum at The
Hague. The road mapped out there has led to many significant achievements.
We salute the leadership of AMCOW, and thank you for your continuing
confidence in the United Nations System as your partner of choice
in the daunting task of developing Africa’s water resources
for the welfare of current and future generations of Africans.
We wish you very fruitful deliberations.
Thank you.
