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In addition to meeting basic water and
sanitation needs the conference will also focus
on water management |
Delegates from over 40 African countries will
attend the first Pan African Implementation and
Partnership Conference on Water (PANAFCON) in
Addis Ababa from
8-13 December 2003, a statement
from the
UN-Water/Africa Secretariat based at
the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has
confirmed. PANAFCON will be held under the aegis
of the African Ministers'
Council on Water (AMCOW),
which met during
October 2003. PANAFCON will
feature eight parallel thematic sessions:
- Meeting basic needs - water, sanitation and
human
settlements
- Water for food security
- Protecting ecosystems and livelihoods
- Managing risks - water and climate
- Financing water Infrastructure
- Integrated water resource management / shared
water
resources
- Valuing and allocating water
- Ensuring water wisdom and
- Governing water wisely
It will also feature a multi-stakeholder
consultation, a civil society segment and a
segment specifically designed for African
ministers and policy makers in charge of water
to engage development partners.
The Chairman of the UN-Water/Africa Secretariat,
who is also the Director of ECA's Sustainable
Development Division, stated, "It will help to
determine how we can collectively implement the
actions spelled out in international
instruments, such as the African Water
Vision
2025, the Millennium Development Goals and the
water agenda of the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD)."
The conference will include group sessions on:
- Meeting basic water and sanitation needs
(UN-HABITAT/UNICEF)
- Water for food
- Water for nature
- Water and climate
- Water for energy
- International water resource management (IWRM)/
shared water resources (ECA/UNDP)
- Financing (AfDB) and
- Ensuring water wisdom (UNESCO)
During the final two days, which are reserved
for ministers and development partners, the
following key initiatives will be launched:
- The African Water Facility hosted by the
African
Development Bank (AfDB)
- The Bi-Annual African Water Development Report
(AWDR) and African Water Information Clearing
House
(AWICH)
- The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation
Initiative
- The International Aquifer Management
initiative
- Water for African Cities PHASE II
- The European Union Water Initiative for Africa
- National and sub regional plans
- The African Water Journal
Water is a scarce resource in much of Africa. At
the end of 2002 the UN’s World Food Programme
issued an alert that nearly 40 million people
were at risk of hunger in the
Horn of Africa and
in sub-Saharan Africa. While
poverty and
inequality, conflict, political ineptitude and
the toll of AIDS on farm workers all contributed
to the looming famine in some countries, drought
cracked the whip. Adding to the problem, the
arid and semi-arid regions of southern Africa
where food production is a challenge at the best
of times are especially at risk from climate
change. Warmer temperatures could trigger steep
declines in
crop yields and unpredictable
rainfall could damage the hydrological cycle.
Climate models have indicated substantial
increases in the percentages of people facing
the risk of hunger in Africa by 2050. The human
face of
the tragedy is already visible, with the
poorest people at the back of the water queue.
The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), United Nations, highlighted
in an address in Rome recently, that some 1.2
billion people do not have access to water,
twice as many do not have access to sanitation,
and 80% of all disease in the world are due to
contaminated water or poor sanitary conditions.
Despite efforts to improve the situation the
numbers of people without water or sanitation is
expected to double
by 2025.
FAO has proposed addressing the challenge of
water by focusing on short-term, small-scale
irrigation projects at the village level by
rehabilitating irrigation systems over the
medium-term - including the upgrading of
management and related physical infrastructure
and focusing efforts on the longer-term
development of water basins. Neighbouring
countries that share river basins need to agree
on appropriate water management policies,
including resource allocation and control of
environmental externalities.
For this to happen
they will need to pursue long-term development
activities jointly within appropriate
institutional frameworks. Water control and
rural infrastructure are part of five priority
areas for investment identified in the FAO's
Anti-Hunger Programme presented at the
World-Food-Summit. |
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Water availability in
Africa |
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Key Indicators |
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40
million at risk of hunger in Horn and southern
Africa
1.2 billion without access to water
2.4 billion without access to sanitation
80 % of diseases due to poor water and
sanitation |
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