Summary report, 9–11 November 2009

The Second African Water Week took place from Monday to Wednesday, 9-11 November 2009, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Jointly organized by the South African Government, African Ministers’ Council on Water, African Development Bank, UN Environment Programme and other partners. The theme of the Water Week was ‘Concretizing action to implement African commitments on water and sanitation: “sprint to the finish.”’ The aim of the Water Week was to determine the collective implementation of the actions and commitments outlined in the African Water Vision 2025, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to water and sanitation, as well as the African Union’s Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments. Delegates met in plenary and four parallel sessions on finance, climate change, sanitation, and transboundary water resources. The Water Week concluded with the presentation of the Summary of Proceedings and Outcomes, which was forwarded to the Seventh Ordinary Session of the African Ministers’ Council on Water to be held from 12-13 November 2009. A number of side events were held throughout the meeting.

This report presents a brief history of the African Water Week process and Africa’s water and sanitation related commitments, a summary of the deliberations as well as the outcomes.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF AFRICAN WATER WEEK AND AFRICA’S WATER COMMITMENTS

AFRICA’S WATER VISION 2025: In preparation for the second World Water Forum, held in The Hague, the Netherlands in 2000, African governments prepared a document entitled “Africa’s Water Vision 2025.” Developed through consultative processes in 1999 and 2000, and presented at the second World Water Forum, the Vision stresses the need to change attitudes towards water supply and usage, and proposes a framework for building on these achievements.

AMCOW-6: The sixth Ordinary Session of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW-6) took place from 30-31 May 2007, in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. The meeting focused on strengthening regional and international cooperation and solidarity to address the African water and sanitation crisis and to make progress on achieving the water-related targets of the MDGs and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The Council decided to launch and institutionalize an annual African Water Week (AWW). The Council further decided that AWW-1 would be hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Tunis, Tunisia, in 2007, and requested that the government of Kenya host the event in 2008.

IISD’s coverage of AMCOW-6 is available online at: http://enb.iisd.org/africa/water/amcow/

SECOND AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON SANITATION AND HYGIENE: The second African Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene (AfricaSan +5) was held from 18-21 February 2008, in Durban, South Africa. At the end of the event, the attending ministers jointly agreed to the eThekwini Declaration and AfricaSan Action Plan articulating the critical actions to be further developed, funded and monitored by 2010 in order to put Africa ‘back on track’ to meet the sanitation MDGs. The AfricaSan +5 Conference also marked the formal launch of the International Year of Sanitation in Africa. In the eThekwini Declaration Ministers agreed to review, update and adopt national sanitation and hygiene policies within 12 months of AfricaSan +5 2008; establish one national plan for accelerating progress to meet national sanitation goals and the MDGs by 2015, and take the necessary steps to ensure national sanitation programmes are on track to meet these goals. They also agreed to establish specific public sector budget allocations for sanitation and hygiene programmes, including via an ‘aspirational’ allocation of at least of 0.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) for sanitation and hygiene. Ministers also agreed to support the leadership of AMCOW to track the implementation of the eThekwini Declaration and prepare a detailed report on progress in mid-2010, when AMCOW will provisionally host a follow-up AfricaSan event.

AWW-1: The First African Water Week (AWW-1), took place from 26-28 March 2008 in Tunis, Tunisia, under the theme ‘Accelerating Water Security for the Socio Economic Development of Africa.’ The meeting’s three objectives were to provide a forum for key actors in Africa’s water sector to discuss the opportunities and challenges of achieving water security for Africa’s socioeconomic development, take stock of the status of the achievement of the MDGs and related targets on water in Africa and make recommendations for consideration by the 2008 African Union (AU) and Group of Eight Industrialized Countries (G8) summits, and the 2009 Fifth World Water Forum. Participants agreed on two key outputs the Summary of Proceedings and Outcomes highlighting the issues and recommendations made in plenary and working groups, and the Tunis Ministerial Declaration on Accelerating Water Security for Africa’s Socioeconomic Development that reflects the specific commitments that ministers’ would act on.

The Tunis Ministerial Declaration has four parts on: the efforts and achievements on water; global partnership with the international community; key messages; and suggested decisions for the July 2008 AU Summit and the G8 Summit.

IISD’s coverage of AWW-1 is available online at http://enb.iisd.org/africa/water/aww1/

ELEVENTH AFRICAN UNION SUMMIT: The eleventh AU Summit took place from 24 June to 1 July 2008 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, under the theme ‘Meeting the Millennium Development Goals on Water and Sanitation.’ The AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government adopted the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments for Accelerating the Achievement of Water and Sanitation Goals in Africa (Assembly/AU/Decl.1 (XI)). In the Declaration the AU Assembly committed to: increase efforts to implement past declarations related to water and sanitation; raise the profile of sanitation by addressing the gaps in the context of implementing the eThekwini Declaration; and address issues pertaining to agricultural water use for food security as provided for in the Tunis Declaration and outcomes of the AWW-1. The Assembly also committed, inter alia, to: develop and/or update national water management policies, regulatory frameworks and programmes; and prepare national strategies and action plans for achieving the MDG targets for water and sanitation over the next seven years.

IISD’s coverage of the AU Summit is available online at http://enb.iisd.org/africa/brief/briefing0704e.html

AMCOW EXCO: The sixth session of AMCOW’s Executive Committee (EXCO) met from 24-28 November 2008 at the UN Office in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme ‘Carrying forward the Sharm El-Sheikh Declaration and Commitments on Water and Sanitation.’ In its recommendation, the EXCO invited South Africa to host AWW-2 in conjunction with the AMCOW-7 in 2009, and decided that Kenya would host AWW-3 in 2010.

IISD’s coverage of the AMCOW EXCO is available online at http://enb.iisd.org/africa/water/amexco/

REPORT OF AWW-2

Bai-mass Taal, AMCOW Executive Secretary, welcomed delegates to the second African Water Week (AWW-2). Olushola Sodeko, African Union (AU), speaking on behalf of Peace Tumusiime, AU Commissioner for Rural Affairs and Agricultural Development, noted many challenges facing Africa including climate change, energy and finance, and stated that the AWW-2 was important for prioritizing actions enabling adequate water and sanitation access. She urged delegates to use AWW-2 to scale-up efforts for meeting the water and sanitation targets, as well as the African Water Vision 2025. She called for financial support for enabling access to water and sanitation, as well as for capacity building.

Buyelwa Sonjica, Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, South Africa, welcomed delegates to South Africa, and reaffirmed that African countries need to work collectively to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). She urged delegates to AWW-2 to highlight the progress made in implementation of the AU’s Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments. She noted that cooperation in African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) would serve as a principle building block toward advancing the goal of breaking the cycle of poverty in Africa and underscored the need for enhancing regional capacity to carry forward the implementation of water and sanitation programmes. Referring to the themes of the parallel sessions, she stated that: financing water infrastructure was needed to drive development; rapid population growth and the transboundary nature of many water resources have created unique water challenges on the continent; given Africa’s vulnerability to climate change, the region will need to vigorously push for increased emissions reductions from developed countries; and accelerated efforts are required to close the gap in access to sanitation since current rates would only see the MDGs being achieved in 2040. Minister Sonjica expressed hope that AWW-2 would serve as a catalyst and encourage more interaction between developed and developing countries.

Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, AMCOW President and Minister of Energy and Water, Republic of Congo, noted that the AWW-2 outcomes would enable practical action for achieving the MDG targets. He stressed the importance of addressing transboundary and climate change issues in the water sector, as well as the need for new initiatives to increase access to water. He stated that increased national action is necessary, especially for the implementation of the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments, and called for assistance for regional development and mobilizing political will. He noted the link between water and agriculture, and stressed that economic development and water need to be integrated and that the linkage with energy sources should be recognized.

Clarissa Brocklehurst, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), presented UNICEF’s work on monitoring the implementation of the water and sanitation MDG targets in Africa. She said that 15 countries were “off track” to achieving the MDG for drinking water and that 39 countries were “off track” to meeting the sanitation target. She stated that for the sanitation MDG to be achieved in Africa, 45 million people per year would need to gain access to sanitation in the years preceding 2015. She noted that although aid disbursements for water in Africa had increased significantly, the available capacity to utilize this aid needed to catch up. She also noted that only a small proportion of aid was directed to basic water and sanitation development and thus does little to advance progress on the MDGs.

Tefera Woudeneh, African Water Facility, outlined the Water Security Action Plan, developed by African Development Bank (AfDB), to assist the AU and its member States to report on the implementation of agreed water and sanitation commitments.

 He said he hoped the framework for reporting actions would be adopted by the AU, which would be followed by a peer review process. He recommended that a coordination unit in the AMCOW Secretariat be formed and a short-term project be commissioned to implement the first full report in 2010.

Ousseynou Diop, Water and Sanitation Programme - Africa (WSP-Africa), gave an overview of the parallel session on ‘Closing the Sanitation Gap.’ He noted that the session would review the implementation of the eThekwini Declaration, which outlined 11 actions to be taken including the formulation of national plans for sanitation and coordination between sectors. She noted that coordination has improved amongst sectors, but that criteria and indicators needed to be established or improved in many countries.

Arthur Swatson, AfDB, gave an overview of the finance session, highlighted the crosscutting nature of financing in the sector and emphasized its implications including on climate change and water adaptation. He stressed that addressing finance is critical to achieving the Africa Water Vision 2025. He also noted that discussions would address the nexus between water and economic growth, as well as scaling up finance to achieve MDG targets.

President Itoua noted that Africa is committed to achieving the MDG targets for 2015, stressing that they should be adopted by Ministries as minimum targets to be met. He emphasized the need for commitments to be implemented at the local level, as well as follow-up evaluations from relevant agencies.

PARALLEL SESSIONS

From Monday afternoon, 9 November to Tuesday 10 November, delegates met in four parallel sessions. IISD coverage focused on three of the four parallel sessions, namely: finance, climate change, and sanitation.

FINANCING WATER AND SANITATION INFRASTRUCTURE: Financing Water and Sanitation Infrastructure: This session was chaired by Monyane Moleleki, Minister of Natural Resources, Lesotho.

Sering Jallow, African Water Facility (AWF), outlined the African Regional Report launched at the Fifth World Water Forum, held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 16-22 March 2009, which contains three key messages, namely, the need to improve the delivery of finance to meet the MDGs, infrastructure expansion, and a major up-scaling of financing to at least USD 50 billion per year. He urged governments to deliver on the eThekwini Declaration, Tunis Declaration, and the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments, in particular the commitment to allocate 0.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) towards sanitation investments.

Alan Nicol, World Water Council, stressed that financing decisions are part of a competitive market environment, noting that making a case for water is not easy, as everyone wants a “piece of the finance pie.” He identified three key contextual issues affecting investments, namely, population, agriculture and climate change.

Helgard Muller, Department of Water Affairs, South Africa, said water is considered to be both a social and economic good under the South African Constitution and outlined the social component of water and sanitation funding, such as grants for basic infrastructure services to meet the MDGs, and cross subsidization.

Discussions: Mark Mwandosya, Minister of Water and Irrigation, Tanzania, urged a deeper understanding of Africa’s progress towards meeting the budgetary commitments to increasing agriculture and sanitation spending as a percentage of GDP.

Eugene Shannon, Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy, Liberia, underscored the need to look at the issue of water rights in terms of securing investment and financing.

Deogratius Nduwimana, Minister of Water, Energy and Minerals, Burundi, urged a balance between investment in water infrastructure and investments in protection and conservation of water resources. Stressing the need for integrated water resource management (IWRM), he highlighted the need to address water investment in post-conflict countries.

Financing Water for Food and Energy in Africa: This session was chaired by Minister Moleleki.

Maher Salman, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said that AWW-2 should call for the scaling-up of investments in agriculture water development infrastructure. He stressed the need for river basin approaches, increased attention on good governance, different approaches for cooperative partnerships including innovative financing mechanisms, as well as the strengthening of monitoring and evaluation particularly in impact assessments.

Roger Gaillard, AfDB, addressed practical examples for using public private partnerships (PPPs) for water and energy financing and noted the correlation between energy and water consumption, life expectancy, literacy and health.

Rudo Makunike, New Partnership for Africa’s Development Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (NEPAD-CAADP), outlined Pillar I of NEPAD-CAADP, which focuses on agricultural water development. She stressed the importance of peer review mechanisms to monitor the fulfillment of NEPAD-CAADP commitments, and said work was underway to develop a ‘mutual accountability framework.’

Twesigye Rwakakamba, Uganda National Farmers Federation, outlined a number of options to support farmers, such as: utilizing sustainable farming practices; focusing on production and predictability; and investing in research and new innovations. On climate change, he said farmers’ solutions should take a central role in the planning process, noted the need for funds to reward farmers for preservation of ecosystem services and payment for carbon offsets, and urged Africa to push for an agriculture component as part of the main outcomes of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP-15) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from 7-18 December 2009.

Scaling-up Financing to Meet the MDGs:This session was chaired by Joel Kolker, Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility.

Sylvain Usher, African Water Association, outlined a number of water sector reforms, including private participation, utility management reforms and south-south partnerships. He said there was a strong push for decentralization and the transfer of competencies to local governments. He outlined five major priority areas that require increased finance: water utilities and governance; access to drinking water and sanitation in rural and peri-urban areas; building capacity of the private services sector; difficulties between borrowers and lenders; and capacity building for water and sanitation utilities.

Kameel Virjee, WSP-Africa, said that, given the significant financing gap for bulk water and water efficiency measures, there was a need to focus on financing options within local markets and ensuring the sustainability of water utilities. He said there was an urgent need to use grants to leverage both concessional and commercial funds.

Mark Joffe, Global Credit Ratings, presented the methodology and findings of a study on the quality of operation of seven African water utilities, focusing on operational, industry and ratio analyses, as well as financial performance.

Financing Water Resources Management and Governance in Africa:This session was chaired by Hama Arba Diallo, Burkina Faso.

Ola Busari, Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA), proposed that instead of water people thinking about finance, finance people should see water as a priority and think more about innovative financing arrangements. He urged governments to look closely at the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments and said African governments must translate these political commitments into policies and bankable projects.

Martin Walshe, Global Water Partnership (GWP), urged investment in the non-productive ‘hard infrastructure-side’ of the water and sanitation sectors, as well as the ‘soft-side’ that manages water resources. Noting the need for more work on the economic and financial case for investing in water, Walshe asked whether a strong study on the macro-economic case for increased investments, like the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, is needed.

Malinne Blomberg, AWF, said the water sector faces a general shortage of fundable programmes, inadequate data for planning and weak institutional frameworks. She said demands for water resources management funding expressed to AWF included: development of national and transboundary water resources management plans and programmes; implementation of information systems for monitoring and evaluation; water resources management at the catchment levels; and capacity building.

Discussion: Participants discussed the balance between supporting governance and enabling environments versus physical infrastructure projects that deliver on the ground impacts. Some participants raised concerns over the appropriateness of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, while others called for financing small-scale infrastructure, such as reservoirs.

Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD): This session was chaired by Sering Jallow, AWF.

Vivien Foster, World Bank, presented the findings of water-related elements of the AICD, which is the most detailed study yet undertaken on infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa. She outlined that while Africa currently spends USD 6.7 billion per year on meeting the MDG water-related targets the Continent needs to spend over USD 30 billion per year. She outlined ten key messages, including prioritizing development of key hydro-power projects and doubling small-scale agricultural irrigation schemes.

Richard Holding, TCTA, said South Africa is rated amongst the 30 driest countries in the world and that economic growth, stimulated by the mining sector, has not been located close to available water resources. Halima Nazeer, TCTA, outlined how organizations in the water value chain raise finance and invest in the system. She noted that the process of pricing water and sanitation services promotes access to basic safe services and encourages the wise and sustainable use of resources while ensuring financial sustainability.

Arthur Belsey, Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project, outlined the major irrigation projects being implemented by the Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise of Swaziland, which works with farmers associations to assist them in taking control over water resources management. He said that PPPs are not a panacea, but stressed the need for farmers to have some professional independent help that is distinct from direct government assistance.

Discussion: Ministers from Liberia and Ethiopia expressed concerns that the AICD data was too generalized and, in some cases, statistical data was either outdated or inaccurate. The Minister from Liberia questioned the AICD’s assumption that access to water and sanitation in Africa was a luxury good that mostly benefited the wealthy. One participant cautioned against viewing irrigation as valuable only for cash and high value crops and stressed the need to talk about the social protection returns from irrigation. In response, Foster said the baseline year for the AICD is 2006, that datasets were based on country household surveys and that access to water and sanitation, defined as having private taps and flush toilets, still remains a luxury.

CLOSING THE SANITATION GAP: The Big Picture: This session was chaired by Ousseynou Diop, WSP-Africa.

Clarissa Brocklehurst, UNICEF, emphasized the need for demand-led approaches, which she said have proven successful and enabled progress in closing the sanitation gap.

Wambui Gichuri, WSP-Africa, presented a progress report on the implementation of the eThekwini Declaration. She highlighted a number of issues including the lack of implementation of national plans to meet the MDG targets and the difficulty in attaining the 0.5% allocation of GDP for water and sanitation.

Sanitation Advocacy:Jon Lane, Water Supply Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), outlined the activities and outcomes of the International Year of Sanitation, held in 2008. He stressed the need for simple messages and unified goals, as well as establishing how to communicate water and sanitation for advocacy purposes. Stating that more emphasis should be placed on hygiene and the sustained use of water and sanitation services, he called for increased private sector involvement, particularly with small-scale private enterprises.

Discussion:Participants noted that the lack of adequate sanitation and running water at rural schools has an impact on the education of children. Participants also discussed how to incorporate finance ministries into future planning to attain the 0.5% GDP target. Several participants lamented the lack of private sector involvement in sanitation and water programmes. Some noted the need for adequate advocacy strategies to engage finance ministries, as well as tailoring messages to specific audiences to ensure that sanitation issues can be equally addressed similarly to other health and development concerns.

Leadership and Financing: This session was chaired by Jon Lane, WSSCC.

Yiga Baker Matovu, WaterAid Uganda, addressed experiences of sanitation leadership and coordination in Uganda. He noted that Uganda uses a sector-wide approach with a single policy and expenditure programme, which allows common approaches by government and donors enabling increased progress in the sector.

Amani Mafuru, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Tanzania, noted the creation of targets and programmes including institutional and capacity building and water management. He stressed that remaining challenges include, inter alia: inadequate capacity; lack of demand for stimulating private sector innovation; and geography.

Jessica Vonkat, Country Women Association of Nigeria, presented a case study on a micro-credit scheme targeting women in Jos, Nigeria. Noting that the programme objectives were to provide toilet facilities to poor female heads of households, as well as empowering local artisans through job creation, she highlighted programme benefits including increased health and the creation of a savings culture. She said key challenges include lack of space for construction and ethno-linguistic differences.

Discussion: Participants questioned the use of subsidies in creating sustainable programmes, the use of national standards for building toilets, capacity gaps when scaling-up projects and the replicability of the micro-credit scheme.

Behavior Changes and Community-based Approaches: This session was chaired by Jon Lane, WSSCC.

Idrissa Doucoure, WaterAid West Africa, presented lessons learned from achieving total sanitation access in West Africa. He said that Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) has been successful in creating a sense of community ownership and used community resources, although cultural barriers remain. He noted that policies should understand the local context, reflect good practices and implement platforms for knowledge generation and sharing.

Roundtable Discussion:In a roundtable discussion on CLTS, Ousseynou Diop, WSP-Africa, noted the need for working with local communities to enable ownership of the sanitation programmes and investigating cost effective ways to match supply with demand. Cheik Tandia, Centre Régional pour l’Eau Potable et l’Assainissement à faible coût, stated that CLTS is necessary to accelerate meeting the health needs of the poor. He stressed that it should be adapted to social and cultural norms. Ada Oko-Williams, WaterAid Nigeria, underscored the importance of regional collaboration on CLTS. In the ensuing discussion, participants recognized the efficacy of situating sanitation advocacy within religious contexts. They also discussed matching supply-driven approaches at the national level with CLTS at the local level, the need for knowledge management on CLTS and regulation at all levels.

Sustainability: This session was chaired by Elisabeth von Münch, GTZ.

Johnson Klu, Mvula Trust, presented on Mvula’s approaches for enabling sanitation access. He said the programme focuses on demand-responsiveness and integrating community participation, institutional and social development, appropriate technology and economic development.

Lindy Morrison, Mvula Trust, noted some of the challenges and opportunities facing the organization, including affordability, political will and sustainability and technology choices. She recommended that future work strengthen the role of communities, increase leadership understanding and focus on programme impacts.

Arne Panesar, GTZ, presented on the outcomes of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) meeting held from 16-17 May 2009 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, including: meeting all five sustainability criteria; programmes must address the entire sanitation chain; and inclusion of the right management and financing tools.

Discussion:Participants queried whether Mvula’s work focused solely on households. Some questioned the sustainability of job creation from Mvula’s programmes and whether innovation is lost due to close government collaboration. One participant noted that the South African sanitation unit has moved to the Department of Human Settlements and that there is talk about moving the water supply unit there as well. They also discussed whether SuSanA intends to act as a global “rallying point” for sanitation.

Urban Sanitation:This session was chaired by Leila Smith, Mvula Trust.

Graham Alabaster, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), presented lessons learned in sanitation and waste services in urban Africa. He noted the need to understand the diversity of urban contexts. He stressed robust multi-stakeholder forums for urban sanitation programmes and developing phased approaches to design and implementation, focusing on long-term sustainability and the full sanitation cycle. He emphasized that local-level systems and governance underpin the success of sanitation programmes. He called for programmes incorporating multiple approaches and underscored the need for hygiene promotion and advocacy.

Presenting on urban sanitation in Senegal, Ousseynou Diop, WSP-Africa, outlined sanitation subsidy provisions for households in Senegal. He stressed the need for clear institutional frameworks when implementing sanitation programmes, low subsidies to enable sustainability of projects, up-scaling projects and increased investment in capacity building.

Discussion: Participants discussed: strengthening capacity for increased sustainability; cost recoverability of sanitation solutions; the divide between social and technical responsibilities of sanitation programmes; meeting the sanitation needs of urban slums; how to aggregate solutions under effective agencies; and the costs and sustainability of maintaining latrines.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND WATER ADAPTATION: Impacts of Climate Change in Africa:This session was chaired by Salif Diop, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Alfred Opere, University of Nairobi, presented on the impacts of climate change in Eastern Africa. He said water availability projections showed all countries in the region would be water stressed by 2025. He noted that the effects of water stress and climate change included: reduced flow in most rivers; conflicts over water resources and pasture; lowered lake levels for hydropower generation; complete disappearance of mountain glaciers; increased incidents of malaria; affected crop cycles; and reduced fisheries production.

Chris Moseki, Water Research Commission, South Africa, spoke on the impact of climate change on water resources in Southern Africa. He recommended: developing early preparedness systems; upgrading water storage infrastructure; protecting ecosystem goods and services; and improving monitoring and sharing of climate information.

Addressing the impact of climate change in Central Africa, Pierre Adisso, Ministry of Energy and Water, Benin, called for a reversal, and better monitoring, of current trends and rates of forest degradation.

Cheikh Gaye, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, noted that coastal areas in West Africa have increasingly large populations with high water demands and pressures on water resources. He noted that groundwater pollution and saltwater intrusion of aquifers are major problems and said that increasing urbanization, sea level rise and reduced rainfall would exacerbate these problems.

Khaled AbuZeid, Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe, spoke on the impact of climate change in Northern Africa. Noting the regions’ vulnerability to climate change, he outlined rising sea levels and the increased occurrence of flood and drought in Morocco, Algeria and Egypt. He underlined that changes in climate are also bringing about wetter conditions in some areas of the region and said improving model downscaling and General Circulation Models (GCM) would help in assessing the regional situation more effectively.

Discussion: The discussion was facilitated by Osman Mirghani, University of Khartoum. Participants called for: better sharing of the information discussed in this session with communities and climate policy negotiators; improvements in quality of climate data; guidance on using this information to inform adaptation strategies; and increasing adaptation measures to address urban water resource vulnerability. Mirghani called for better differentiation between climate caused changes and man-made ones, and highlighted water resource management as a “veritable” tool to conserve water resources.

Adaptation to Climate Change: This session was chaired by Harrison Pienaar, Department of Water Affairs, South Africa.

Hesham Kandil, AfDB, presented on the contribution of the AfDB on water sector adaptation to climate change in Africa. He outlined the AfDB’s involvement with the AWF, Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa), NEPAD water and sanitation programme, rural water supply and sanitation initiative (RWSSI), and the Water Partnership Programme, noting that the Bank focused on both lending assistance for policy and capacity building and investment for adaptation.

Roland Schulze, University of KwaZulu-Natal, spoke on the South African experience on adaptation to climate change. He noted that to formulate meaningful adaptation measures quality assessments of the climate situation were required and that comprehension of local conditions is necessary for downscaling GCMs. He stressed that adaptation requires action, not merely looking at the problem, and called for better cross-sectoral harmonization between agencies working independently on adaptation strategies in different sectors, institutions and government departments. He underlined a new principle-led strategy for developing effective adaptation strategies for South Africa.

Emmanuel Mwendera, IUCN, presented a case study on the Pangani River Basin in Tanzania demonstrating mainstreaming climate change into IWRM strategies. He said project actions would be scaled-up nationally and included installing water efficient infrastructure, providing water for livestock to avoid pasture degradation, tree planting to restore land integrity and exploiting groundwater resources.

Datius Rutashobya, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), stressed that adaptation to climate change requires science-based knowledge, resilient development policies, appropriate institutions and regulatory mechanisms. He noted WMO’s mandate as the voice on the state and behavior of the Earth’s atmosphere within the UN system, presented maps showing the World Hydrological Cycle Observing System, and described the work of the Associated Programme on Flood Management.

On rainwater harvesting and climate change, Vessela Monta, International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance, noted the Alliance’s main activities, including project implementation, awareness raising, knowledge sharing, networking and political work.

Discussions:Participants discussed, inter alia: using water users associations to disseminate information; access to AfDB funding; and accounting for climate and rainfall projection uncertainties in policy development. Participants also addressed: extending rainwater harvesting to both traditional and non-traditional settings; the incremental costs of climate change adaptation; rainwater harvesting in drought affected areas; and improved hydrological monitoring in urban environments.

Main Messages:The panel discussion focusing on coping mechanisms to adapt to climate change was chaired by Guy Pegram, Pegasys.

Mohamed Tawfik, WMO, spoke on water resource availability for food security, the need to understand climate to reinforce food security and proposed looking at harnessing the potential benefits from climate change induced events such as increased food production from “flooding” in arid regions.

Ania Grobicki, GWP, noted that water security encompasses both security of supply and safety from the harm water can cause, and encouraged closer ties with the disaster risk reduction community. She stressed that water experts needed to engage with those involved in climate change adaptation to better incorporate water into climate change adaptation policies and urged participants to step outside the ‘water-box.’

Jessica Wilson, Environmental Monitoring Group, said it was necessary to question the current global economic model of wealth accumulation and to move towards a low-carbon, people-level and development-centered economic model. She called for technology to be used appropriately inside development frameworks, for local initiatives to be built and strengthened and for accessible adaptation funding and financing mechanisms.

Odira Patts Akumu, University of Nairobi, said that the capacity to adapt depends on numerous factors and that governments need to invest more in research areas so that the quality of the associated data can be improved to assist decision making. He highlighted research areas, including efficient use of water resources, water storage facilities and information sharing frameworks.

Noting the crucial role that gender responsibilities and gender power relations have on making decisions on resource allocation, Annabell Waititu, Gender and Water Alliance, highlighted that women experience higher social and opportunity costs due to water shortages. She called for the greater recognition of the gender role in projects, increasing the accessibility of measures for women and opportunities for women to express their ideas and views on adaptation measures affecting them.

Discussion: Participants recommended, inter alia: forming clear climate adaptation messages to feed to ministers; integrating and recognizing water stresses caused by increasing populations; avoiding getting locked in to ‘maladaptive’ actions; building research capacity through educational facilities; forming short-term plans in line with long-term objectives to achieve political buy-in; and working with decision makers to increase understanding of intersectoral linkages between various climate change adaptation decisions.

PLENARY

OPENING: AWW-2 was officially opened on Wednesday morning, 11 November 2009.

Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, AMCOW President, noted that water and sanitation problems are recognized by leaders as being at the heart of Africa’s development programmes. Stressing the importance of achieving the MDGs, he noted that only five years remain to achieve them and that AWW-2 would allow stakeholders to assess what has been achieved thus far. He stressed that women and children would bear the brunt of any failure to achieve the MDGs and called for concrete terms that would enable stakeholders to ‘go from words to action.’

Trevor Manual, Minister in the Presidency, South Africa, stressed the interconnectedness of the water and development challenges, and lamented the lack of financial resources for maintenance to ensure sustainability of water schemes. He underscored the challenge in assessing the effect of unplanned urbanization on water and sanitation supply. He outlined a number of capacity constraints, including capacity to adequately police, maintain and administer water supply. Lamenting that drought has affected many countries, societies and livelihoods across Africa, he stressed the side-effects, including starvation and conflict, which lead to increasing national security concerns. He also discussed implementing the “polluter pays” principle in the water sector.

Delegates viewed a short film on UNEP’s, soon to be released, Africa Water Resources Atlas.

Speaking on behalf of the Mayor of Johannesburg, Christine Walters, Mayoral Committee Member for Infrastructure and Services, said that the city has made great strides to ensuring water access for all, noting that Johannesburg has achieved 97% water coverage, and 90% sanitation coverage for its 3.8 million inhabitants. She stressed the importance of water for Johannesburg as South Africa’s economic hub, underlined the demand side management programme being implemented to reduce water wastage while creating jobs, and said policing of water usage will be combined with education on water use.

Bobby Pittman Jr., AfDB Vice-President for Infrastructure, Private Sector and Regional Integration, said that economic growth is needed to achieve the MDGs and noted that the AfDB’s commitment to the water sector in Africa was driven by the need for better results and more efficiency. He said the AfDB’s current water portfolio included 30 countries in Africa, and that their goal was to help 20 million more inhabitants gain access to water and sanitation in the next two years. He said the AfDB planned to contribute an additional EUR 11 million to the African Water Facility this year, and emphasized AfDB’s total commitment to addressing the water challenges in Africa.

Noting that Africa’s progress in meeting the MDGs has been challenging, Olushola Sodeko, Senior Policy Advisor, Environment and Water Resources Commission, AU, commended the increased: political will since Sharm El-Sheikh; involvement of Africa’s development partners to help the continent achieve the MDGs; and participation of members and member States at this AMCOW event. She highlighted that the AU would work with all partners to ensure that the MDGs on water and sanitation are met, and urged delegates to commit more resources to achieving the MDGs.

Halifah Drammeh, on behalf of the UNEP Executive Director in his capacity as Chair of UN-Water/Africa, and Special Advisor on Africa, UNEP, noted that the UN is a strategic member and participant in AMCOW, citing its membership in its Executive Boards, financial contributions and the African Water Information Clearing House as examples of this. He highlighted the work that has been achieved by the AMCOW Presidents, and said that the 2nd Pan-African Implementation and Partnership Conference would pay tribute to those who were instrumental in establishing and growing AMCOW. He noted the political gains made recently in the water and sanitation complex, including the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments, and the eThekwini and Tunis Declarations.

His Royal Highness, Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, and Chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, stressed that progress has been made in expanding first-time access to basic sanitation and noted that almost a third of African countries are performing above the world average of providing water and sanitation. He emphasized that the Regional Economic Communities should strengthen their role in water and sanitation provision through policy formulation and scaling-up successful programmes and emphasized regional cooperation as key to expanding coverage. He noted that a number of international agencies are providing independent monitoring and evaluation of programmes, which aids in increasing pressure for basic services provision.

REPORTS: Finance: The rapporteur said discussions highlighted the need to: increase funding in the amount of USD 30 billion to USD 50 billion per year; ensure more bankable projects; mainstream water into global economic development; develop strong national plans and financing strategies; and ensure a wider array of water financing avenues. He said the session stressed the importance of good governance and stable policy frameworks, underscored that investment in soft infrastructure would lead to investments in hard infrastructure; and recommended the introduction of smart tariff programmes to achieve sustainability of water programmes.

Climate Change: The rapporteur presented the key messages from the climate change sessions. He said the sessions key recommendations, included: improving regional integration and development, including improved transboundary management and cooperation; developing water governance and capacity, including capacity building for water resource monitoring; ramping up finance and investment, potentially through adaptation funds and increased government commitment; improving the quality of climate change and water information and information dissemination; and recognizing water as a cross-cutting issue to improve coordination across ministries regarding water.

Sanitation: The rapporteur said the sessions focused on: an overview of sanitation; advocacy; and leadership and financing. He said the key messages from the session included: the need to contextualize programmes; increased investigation of behavioral change to ensure sustained positive effects; and subsidization of sanitation programmes. They lamented the lack of financing made available to sanitation, in addition to the lack of sufficient monitoring and evaluation mechanisms in place.

Transboundary Waters: The rapporteur highlighted the outcomes of the session on transboundary water resources. He said delegates noted the decisions of Heads of States, through the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments, to promote, inter alia, partnership amongst states, ground water knowledge and independent monitoring and evaluation. Participants also noted the need for: increased cooperation amongst neighbouring states and regional organizations; innovative thinking on water; and addressing the disconnect existing between local, national and regional levels. They noted that although a number of regional water organizations already exist, there is a lack of transparency and defined responsibilities in regional agreements, in addition to long delays between programme design and implementation.

Plenary Discussion: The ensuing discussion highlighted: the need for more concrete financing figures; aligning financing policies with government policy; emphasizing water availability over water services; consolidating approaches to transboundary agreements; and the African Commission’s activities on groundwater resources.

CLOSING: Executive Secretary Bai-mass Taal, AMCOW, presented delegates with the Summary of Proceedings and Outcomes, which will be transmitted to AMCOW-7 for further deliberation.

AMCOW President Itou closed AWW-2 at 1:49pm.

AWW-2 SUMMARY OF PROCEEDINGS AND OUTCOMES

The Summary of Proceedings and Outcomes of AWW-2 will be presented to the plenary of the Seventh Ordinary Session of AMCOW for approval and is expected to add value to the implementation of the water actions that have been identified to operationalize the commitments made in the Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments.

FRAMEWORK FOR REPORTING ACTIONS, IN LINE WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SHARM EL-SHEIKH COMMITMENTS

Key messages from AWW-2 to AMCOW-7 include that:

• AMCOW should adopt the ‘Framework for Reporting Actions’ as the basis for implementing and reporting the actions undertaken by member States to meet their commitments;
• Member States should internalize actions in their national plans and provide annual reports on their water security status;
• a peer review mechanism should be institutionalized in recognition of different countries progress of implementing water security;
• the AMCOW Secretariat be given technical and logistical support to monitor and report actions;
• actions taken by Member States should form the main agenda items at successive Water Week events, with countries taking turns reporting on actions; and
• partners should, to the extent possible, use existing regional mechanisms and initiatives to channel funding to the water and sanitation sectors.

FINANCING WATER AND SANITATION INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH

FINANCING WATER INFRASTRUCTURE: REVISITING NEEDS AND PROSPECTS: Key messages from AWW-2 to AMCOW-7 include that:

• following the updating of the financing needs for Africa’s water resources infrastructure and the scale of financing required to meet the MDGs and the African Water Vision 2025 has been established, countries should disaggregate these requirements to the national level and seek the funding to boost economic growth;
• closing the financing gap requires action from governments and national stakeholders, private sector, civil society, regional bodies and development partners, as well as country ownership of programmes and increased local sources of finance;
• scaling up of regional financing instruments and channels, including the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative, the African Water Facility and Water for African Cities, as opposed to establishing new instruments;
• preparation by countries of sectoral investment plans that draw on synergies between major water-using sectors, particularly energy and agriculture;
• undertaking reforms at the national level to reduce operational inefficiencies and assure cost recovery, using tariffs, taxes and transfers;
• delivering on the commitment in the eThekweni Declaration to allocate 0.5% of GDP for financing sanitation;
• meeting agriculture investments under AU Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in Africa Maputo public expenditure pledge of 10% of GDP;
• strengthening partnerships with Africa’s emerging partners; and
• enhancing and promoting the role of the private sector and local finance, mindful of the fact that the prudent pricing of the cost of services holds the key to sustainable delivery of the service.

FINANCING WATER FOR ENERGY AND AGRICULTURE: Key messages from AWW-2 to AMCOW-7 include that:

• stronger collaboration between financial institutions to ensure joint implementation of programmes supporting water for agriculture and energy;
• the PPP approach in hydropower and irrigation schemes contributes to reducing the risks and financing gap, thus improving the quality of works and assuring good operation and durability of the assets;
• partnering for more support of up-front project preparation activities and capacity building is needed; and
• recognizing farmers’ role in climate change mitigation, they should be offered financial incentives to invest in renewable energy, use farm practices that sequester carbon and activities that protect and restore water catchment systems.

FINANCING WATER SUPPLY SERVICES: Key messages from AWW-2 to AMCOW-7 include:

• invoking regulation that facilitates borrowing and provides policy security reducing the risk perception around the sector;
• financiers need to design innovative facilitating mechanisms focusing on utility’s cash flows rather than more traditional asset secured lending;
• better market information is required to ensure that fair risk assessments can be made by potential lenders; and
• market-based financing mechanisms should be mindful of possible impacts on the poor and tariff structures should be defined to balance the interests of both providers and consumers.

FINANCING FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE: Key messages from AWW-2 to AMCOW-7 include:

• both infrastructure and other interventions are needed and are inextricably linked, noting that without the governance and IWRM interventions, financing will not be available and infrastructure will be sub-optimal;
• a better understanding of the financing of water resources development, management and governance functions is needed, in addition to developing the economic case for investments in water services and water resource management;
• prioritizing the allocation of water to different sectors is an emerging governance issue;
• needing to align donor and government funding, while each country strategy is unique to their situation and uses a wide spectrum of financing mechanisms, many administrations are unable to spend budget allocations and need to develop human capacities; and
• alternative targeted financing and organizational structures are needed to effectively manage African water resources.

HARMONIZING STUDIES AND ESTIMATES OF FINANCING FOR AFRICA’S WATER INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS: The key messages from AWW-2 to AMCOW-7, suggested the establishment of a Task Force to examine and harmonize methodologies and assumptions to ensure consistency and define the finance strategies required at regional and national levels, which can feed into the proposed meeting of Water and Finance Ministers.

CLOSING THE SANITATION GAP

Key messages from AWW-2 to AMCOW-7 include:

• that the AMCOW Sanitation Task Force should further develop typologies for sanitation strategies and engage with countries to improve sanitation policies and strategies;
• the Task Force, working with the AfDB, the World Health Organization and UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme for water supply and sanitation and other agencies, should further develop instruments for monitoring sanitation progress to better inform national strategies;
• the Task Force should develop clear milestones towards AfricaSan 3, in order to provide a continent-wide platform that deepens sector understanding and shares knowledge of successful approaches;
• that African countries should create clearer, higher-level leadership for sanitation considering either separate Ministries of Sanitation or leadership at the Directorate level;
• increasing the public sector allocations to address the sanitation crisis and undertaking national economic analyses of the costs of not addressing the sanitation crisis to increase the priority of sanitation in Ministries of Finance;
• incorporating CLTS approaches into national rural sanitation strategies, stimulating private sector response to increased sanitation demand and sustaining the short term gains through household and community efforts;
• increasing efforts in sanitation advocacy at the country level to increase the profile of sanitation using simple, targeted and local messages with clear measurable goals;
• that the Sanitation Task Force prepare the road to AfricaSan 3 with a full report on the achievements of the eThekwini Declaration and Sharm El-Sheikh Commitments;
• systemic thinking and incentives to build capacity along the entire sanitation value chain for public sector management and to attract entrepreneurship;
• that urban sanitation needs specific focus; and
• that phased, disaggregated, but city-wide approaches are needed to improve sanitation services in Africa’s growing informal settlements and that are fully integrated into slum-upgrading programmes.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND WATER ADAPTATION

Key messages from AWW-2 to AMCOW-7 include:

• developing effective responses to climate change from African governments by making climate change a core development activity, integrating responses into their development strategies and improving transboundary management and cooperation;
• water institutions should increase their capacity to monitor water resources for water resource assessments and water resource management in order to strengthen resilience at the regional, national and local levels;
• increasing the financing of and investment in water infrastructure through innovations such as an Adaptation Fund and through financial commitments by African governments;
• improved information to respond to climate change through increased investment in monitoring of water resources, capacity for forecasting and modeling, as well as improved dissemination of information, particularly in the transboundary basin context; and
• involving other Ministries in climate change and adaptation issues due to the cross-cutting nature of the water sector.

MANAGING AFRICA’S TRANSBOUNDARY WATERS

Key messages from AWW-2 to AMCOW-7 include:

• noting that every country on the African continent shares surface water and/or ground waters;
• noting that each country has a shared responsibility with neighboring states to ensure reasoned and prudent water use;
• assuring the supply of appropriate water quality to all sectors and levels of society;
• noting that while water is a common good, it requires private sector and civil society involvement to adequately tend to the water supply;
• that civil society organizations have a crucial role in developing the capacity and competence of non-state actors in order to contribute to decision making for effective management of transboundary waters;
• the use of statutory and legal instruments to embody the principles of wise water use, prevention of pollution and peaceful coexistence;
• emphasizing the issue of geographic scale, principally when evaluating available options to prevent or resolve water disputes; and
• enhancing inter-state collaboration to effectively manage shared waters through mutual understanding and agreement on the characteristics and dimensions of the resource.

AWW-2 CONCLUDING MESSAGES

Key messages from AWW-2 to AMCOW-7 note that:

• participants fully support the request of the AU for a meeting of Water and Finance Ministers to discuss water security and economic growth, which has been scheduled for 2010 to focus on water supply and sanitation; and
• the future format of the AWW series should offer the opportunity for benchmarking progress, deepen peer learning and stimulate stronger action at local level.

UPCOMING MEETINGS

15TH CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE UNFCCC AND 5TH MEETING OF THE PARTIES TO THE KYOTO PROTOCOL: UNFCCC COP-15 and Kyoto Protocol COP/MOP-5 are scheduled to take place from 7-18 December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. These meetings will coincide with the 31st meetings of the UNFCCC’s subsidiary bodies. Under the “roadmap” agreed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali in December 2007, COP-15 and COP/MOP-5 are expected to finalize an agreement on a framework for combating climate change post-2012 (when the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period ends). For more information contact: UNFCCC Secretariat; tel: +49-228-815-1000; fax: +49-228-815-1999; e-mail: secretariat@unfccc.int; Internet: http://unfccc.int/meetings/unfccc_calendar/items/2655.php?year=2009

INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF BASIN ORGANIZATIONS EIGHTH WORLD GENERAL ASSEMBLY: This meeting will take place from 20-23 January 2010, in Dakar, Senegal. The assembly will address the theme ‘Adapting to the consequences of climate change in the basin, tools for action.’ For more information, contact: International Network of Basin Organizations; fax: +33-1400-80145; e-mail: inbo@wanadoo.fr; Internet: http://www.inbo-news.org/

WORLD WATER DAY: The theme of World Water Day, being held on 22 March 2010, is “Communicating Water Quality Challenges and Opportunities”. The goal of the day is to raise the profile of water quality at the political level. For more information contact: IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre; tel: +31-15-219-2939; fax: +31-15-219-2955; Internet: http://www.worldwaterday.org

WORLD URBAN FORUM 5:Taking place from 22-26 March 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the World Urban Forum 5 is convening under the theme ‘The Right to the City: Bridging the Urban Divide,’ the Forum will act as a platform to examine rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies and build on the outcomes of previous Fora. For more information contact: UN-HABITAT WUF5 Secretariat; tel: +254-20-762-3334; fax: +254-20-762-4175; e-mail: wuf@unhabitat.org; Internet: http://www.unhabitat.org/wuf

HIGH-LEVEL MEETING ON WATER AND SANITATION: The first annual high-level meeting on water and sanitation, to take place in April 2010 in Washington, DC, US. The meeting is being convened to bring together high-level experts and politicians as well as representatives from Africa and South Asia to assess global progress and agree remedial policy or financing actions on specific issues. For more information see: http://www.wsscc.org/

HIGH-LEVEL MEETING TO REVIEW PROGRESS ON THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS: The UN General Assembly will convene a high-level meeting to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals, to be held at UN Headquarters in New York, US at the opening of the sixth-fifth session in September 2010. It is expected that the meeting will result in a renewal of commitments and galvanize coordinated action among all stakeholder eliciting the funding required to meet the 2015 deadline. For more information see: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/index.shtml

FOURTH AFRICAN WATER WEEK: The fourth African Water Week is expected to take place in Nairobi, Kenya, at a date to be confirmed in 2010. For more information, contact: AMCOW Secretariat; e-mail: baimass1@yahoo.com; Internet: http://www.amcow.net

THIRD INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW OF THE GLOBAL PROGRAMME OF ACTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT FROM LAND-BASED POLLUTION (GPA):  The Third Intergovernmental Review meeting of the GPA is expected to take place sometime in 2011 at a location to be determined. For more information contact: UNEP/GPA Coordinator; tel: +31-70-3114460; fax: +31-70-3456648; e-mail: gpa@unep.nl; Internet: http://www.gpa.unep.org

RAMSAR COP 11: The 11th meeting of the conference of the parties (COP 11) to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat is expected to take place in the first half of 2012 in Romania. The exact dates and venue have yet to be confirmed. For more information contact: Ramsar Secretariat; tel: +41-22-999-0170; fax: +41-22-999-0169; e-mail: ramsar@ramsar.org; Internet: http://www.ramsar.org

SIXTH WORLD WATER FORUM: The sixth World Water Forum will be held in March 2012 in Marseille, France. For more information, contact: World Water Council; tel: +33-49-199-4100; fax: +33-49-199-4101; e-mail: wwc@worldwatercouncil.org; Internet: http://www.worldwatercouncil.org

The AWW-2 Bulletin is a publication of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) <info@iisd.ca>, publishers of the Earth Negotiations Bulletin © <enb@iisd.org>. This issue was written by Tallash Kantai, Kate Louw, Jonathan Manley, and Richard Sherman. The Editor is Anna Schulz. The AWW-2 Bulletin is part of IISD Reporting Service’s African Regional Coverage (ARC) Project in partnership with South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), the UN Environment Programme’s Regional Office for Africa (UNEP ROA) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Director of IISD Reporting Services is Langston James “Kimo” Goree VI <kimo@iisd.org>. The Programme Manager of the African Regional Coverage Project is Richard Sherman <rsherman@iisd.org>. Funding for the AWW-2 Bulletin has been provided by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the International Development Research Centre, Canada, through the African Regional Coverage Project for IISD Reporting Service’s coverage of African regional meetings. IISD can be contacted at 161 Portage Avenue East, 6th Floor, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 0Y4, Canada; tel: +1-204-958-7700; fax: +1-204-958-7710. The opinions expressed in the Bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IISD. Excerpts from the Bulletin may be used in other publications with appropriate academic citation. Electronic versions of the Bulletin are sent to electronic distribution lists (in HTML and PDF formats) and can be found on the Linkages WWW-server at <http://enb.iisd.org/africa/>. For information on the ARC, including requests to provide reporting services, contact the Director of IISD Reporting Services at <kimo@iisd.org>, +1-646-536-7556 or 300 East 56th St., 11A, New York, NY 10022, United States of America.