International
Ground Water Conference in Ethiopia
United Nations Conference Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 25-27
MAY 2004
Learning
from the different experiences in groundwater development in Ethiopia
and other countries on how to move forward.
Purpose
of the Conference:
- to
exchange experiences within Ethiopia on challenges and current
practices and to find ways to accelerate sustainable and safe
water supply to reach the MDG goals.
- to
share Ethiopia’s particular experiences with other countries
to inform other countries how Ethiopia is developing groundwater
for drinking water and sanitation and tries to address the challenges
of the MDGs.
Strategies
to develop the Conference to meet the purposes above:
- The
Ethiopian Ministry of Water Resources, as host of the Conference
and the catalyst for developing Ethiopia’s ground water
resources to meet the MDG goals, invites the eleven regions
of the country to present their cases and emphasize innovative
solutions to meet the goals.
- UNICEF,
UNECA and other agencies joining in the organization of the
Conference call research institutions of the country as well
as NGO’s, CBO’s and Private companies to present
papers that will contribute to the objectives of the conference.
- The
organizers contact the following groups and individuals in specific
countries in Africa and worldwide that have notable expertise
and insights to papers to reach the objectives of the conference.
- Government
Offices of countries which have developed great expertise in
dealing with groundwater development.
- UNICEF
Country offices and counterparts of the respective countries
playing an important role in ground water development in rural
water supply. They can be contacted through the organization’s
headquarters.
- UN
Economic Commission and UN Water (Africa)’s contacts who
can provide valuable inputs and presentations towards reaching
the objectives of the conference
-
Country Offices of World Bank WSP, UNDP and other agencies that
have similar close support in ground water development for drinking
water supply. These can be contacted through the organization’s
headquarters.
-
Research Institutions that have supported ground water development
in Ethiopia and elsewhere that can contribute to the purpose
of the conference.
-
NGO’s and CBO’s that have built up important experience
and come up with innovative solutions in the area of groundwater
development for rural water supply.
-
Private companies who have valuable experience and keen interest
to support sound groundwater development in Ethiopia.
-
Individuals known to the organizers who could contribute significantly
to the objectives of the conference.
-
Organize an exhibition calling for all the above to display
key aspects of their work to share this in a visual way to the
participants and the organizers.
Organization:
The
three institutions embracing this initiative, MoWR, UNICEF and
UNECA establish a steering committee that will oversee the overall
organization of the conference. New Millennium Consulting Engineers
has been retained to assist in the technical, logistical and administrative
aspects.
Key
tasks of the New Millennium Consulting Engineers:
- Preparation
of the conference documentation.
-
Launch the call for presentations/call for papers and recommend
on the actual presentations to be made.
- Organization
of pre-conference events to reach the intended purposes.
- Liaise
with the co-organizers in defining the inputs from their respective
organizations.
-
Identify need for external support from supporters of the conference
both locally and outside of Ethiopia.
-
Coordinate with co-organizers to match the requirements for
the successful implementation of the conference.
-
Take a lead role in the actual event.
-
Collect the lessons learned from the participants’ presentations
and working groups and prepare an initial summary of outcome
of the conference at the closing session.
-
Process the data and prepare a final report of the conference
with practical ways forward and share it with the participants
and other interested institutions.
The
Conference will contribute to the Government of Ethiopia - UNICEF
Mid Term review of the period 2002-2006 and make recommendations
for the remainder of the programming period. In addition the Conference
will give valuable inputs to Ethiopia’s and other participating
countries’ initiatives in rural water supply that are supported
by partners, notably the World Bank, AfDB, Bilateral donors, the
UN System as well as NGO’s to reach the MDG goals by 2015.
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