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Senegal: IWRM Planning Process in Senegal (#334)
Description
Following the Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, Senegal engaged in a development process of Integrated Water Resources Management Action Plan with the financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The Global Water Partnership supported technically the realization of these plans within the beneficiary countries. The initiative named "Partnership for African Water Development” (PAWD) was launched in August 2003 with the following aims:
- To promote IWRM at the basin level and capacity building training for IWRM
- To bring concrete support to the development process of IWRM plan;
- To bring support to the Regional and Country Water Partnerships.
Actions taken
The IWRM Plan development involved several stages:
- Initiation phase; it dealt with the development of IWRM Plan roadmap, institutionalization of the project team, sensitization, and capacity building workshops;
- Situation analysis phase; it was featured by a strong participation of the local players in the regional and departmental experience sharing workshops. These players were able to exchange on the problems of water resources management in their locality and to propose directions for its improvement. Thematic studies and experience sharing workshops with key players of water resources management allowed supplementing information collected in the various regions. This phase led to the definition of the situation analysis of water resources management.
- Development of IWRM Plan phase; the project team organized various national dialogues, which allowed defining the IWRM Plan strategic areas and the proposals for IWRM Plan implementation framework.
The IWRM Plan was validated at a Steering committee meeting late in December 2007. The identified priority projects were developed and submitted to the project team. The phase of IWRM Plan Implementation did not await the end of the process. Along the development of IWRM Plan, the Senegalese Government submitted an IWRM project funded by the African Water Facility. This project takes as a starting point the proposals put forth at the various national meetings. In addition, actions contained in the IWRM Plan priority projects are taken into account in some partners ongoing programs (e.g. CARITAS, IUCN).
Lessons learnt
The experience shows that the IWRM Planning process requires in addition to political will and a minimum resources, method, constant engagement, perseverance and time to allow the process to have an unquestionable anchoring for a continuous and irreversible development.
The IWRM planning process does not always receive the desired attention of the political decision makers and the population as there are not immediate tangible results and visibility (in contrary to direct investment projects, such as hydraulic works). Therefore, it is imperative to conduct IWRM Plan process with the realization of structuring investment plans.
Contact
Mame Dagou Diop (member of the Technical Expert Committee of the Regional West Africa Water Partnership watac@fasonet.bf)
Full case download here
IWRM plan (in French) download here