12
The News N° 24 - March 2014
FRom one conTinenT To anoTHeR
AFRICA
In 2013,
the International Commission
of the Congo-Ubangi-Sangha Basin
(CICOS)
asked
IOWater
to carry out an audit
of its activities in Integrated Water Resources
Management (IWRM), jointly with GIZ for its
shipping activities.
CICOS made significant progress in recent
years and should continue to assert itself as a
major stakeholder in development in Central
Africa, particularly through its IWRM man-
date conferred in 2007.
Although CICOS has developed its Strategic
Action Plan, it still lacks the precise definition
of a framework in which to place all of its pro-
jects.
The Master Plan for Water Development
and Management should remedy this.
Without prejudging the decisions of the
Ministers’ Committee, various measures
could be considered.
The General Secretariat should be strengthe-
ned to aim for better implementation of the
mandate.
CICOS must be an active party in the imple-
mentation of large transboundary hydraulic
structures. Besides the technical aspects, it
also has an institutional role in this kind of
project, alongside the economic commissions
for regional integration (CEMAC and ECCAS).
The recent accession of Gabon allows the
definition of common specific activities.
The integration of Angola into CICOS would
be an asset and would have significant
consequences for the institution, which
would see its "center of gravity" moving to
the south.
Regarding the internal financing of the insti-
tution, the current mechanism appears satis-
factory. Fee mechanisms will be studied in the
medium term, once the national IWRM pro-
cesses are sufficiently advanced.
4
CICOS
Towards the SDAGE - Strategic planning in the Congo River Basin
The International Commission of the
Congo-Ubangi-Sangha Basin (CICOS),
which was mandated by its Member States to
ensure sustainable development in the region
through a fair and consistent water resources
management in the basin, has developed
a
Master Plan for Water Development
and Management (SDAGE).
Given the hugeness of its basin (3.8 Mkm
2
)
CICOS wanted to start the process of develo-
ping the SDAGE on two fundamental bases:
l
Good SDAGE ownership,
ensuring the
participation of the basin’s stakeholders
and water users;
l
The creation of a hydrological mode-
ling
to better understand the functioning
of the river basin and its possible resource
allocations.
Two projects are going to support this initia-
tive:
l
Project for support to water re-
sources management in the Congo
River Basin financed by the Euro-
pean Union and managed by IOWa-
ter.
This project includes a training cycle
on operational hydrology for the National
Hydrological Services (NHS) and CICOS,
and support to the implementation of the
participatory component of the SDAGE;
l
Project for monitoring water re-
sources and prospects for the Congo
Basin, funded by the French Global
Environment Facility
and managed by
CICOS with a technical assistance from
the French Development Agency. A com-
ponent corresponds to the development
of a resources allocation model on the ba-
sin scale.
These bases being completed by early 2015,
the SDAGE then will be initiated with the
objective of giving people what they really
need in a shared and sustainable manner,
respectful of the environment.
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Institutional audit of CICOS
AfDB
Project assessment for the African Development Bank
The International Office for Water,
in
partnership with Studi International and Au-
recon, is participating in the assessment of
projects funded by
the African Water Faci-
lity
and directly carried out the assessment of
the following three projects implemented
between 2008 and 2012:
➊
Congo (Brazzaville):
Study on the reha-
bilitation and extension of drinking water
supply and sanitation systems in Brazza-
ville and Pointe Noire.
➋
Burkina Faso:
Feasibility and design
study of a drainage and waste manage-
ment system in Ouagadougou.
➌
Liberia:
Study for the extension and
rehabilitation of the drinking water supply
and sanitation system in three regional
capitals.
The assessment was based on documentary
investigations and interviews with the orga-
nizations in charge of the projects.
The mission also plans the development of
informational products designed to showcase
innovative good practices implemented in the
assessed projects.
4
Building of latrines in Pointe Noire
acp eu
WaterFacility
