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The
Regional Strategic Action Plan on Integrated Water Resources
Development and Management
Status on the Implementation
Update
April 2000
During
the period June 1999 and May 2000, the Water Sector
strategically focussed on the implementation of the Regional
Strategic Action Plan (1999 – 2000).
The Plan was compiled in 1998. The Water Sector
submitted the Plan successfully to Cooperating Partners for
funding in December, 1998 at a Round Table Conference in
Geneva. The implementation of this Plan is envisaged to create
the regional framework for integrated water resources
development and management. It is intended to create the
enabling environment for future capital works on water
resources management.
Thirty
one of the forty four Projects in the Regional Strategic
Action Plan were identified as priority Projects at Geneva and
earmarked for implementation with funding obtained through the
Round Table Conference process. For these Projects, as
reported in the last Annual Report, some initial detailing
work in the form of Project Concept Notes was done in May 1999
with the assistance of a Multi – Disciplinary Team of
Experts.
Substantial
progress was made in the elaboration and implementation of
Projects in the period being reported on. Eight Projects are
in the process of being implemented. The implementation levels
of these Projects vary from project development to actual
implementation of activities. The most significant progress
was recorded on Project 6: The Ground Water Management
Program, Project 8: Support for the Implementation of the SADC
Protocol on Shared Watercourse Systems, Project 15: Expansion
of SADC HYCOS and Project 23: Waternet. With respect to the
rest of the Projects, a lot of effort was put into
consultation on a) the process of detailing the Project
Concept Notes into Project documents and b) securing funds for
the implementation of the Projects. The way to elaborate the
Project Concept Notes was clarified by March 2000. This
concept is currently being operationalized on individual
Projects with the assistance of specific Cooperating Partners
and Stakeholders.
In
August 1999, the Project Concept Notes of the 31 Projects were
sent out to Cooperating Partners. The Cooperating Partners
were requested to make firm pledges of support to the Projects
they are interested in. As of May 2000, firm pledges of
support had been received from 16 Cooperating Partners as
follows: the World Bank, GEF, AfDB, FAO, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO,
DFID, Danida, Belgium, the French Cooperation, USAID, SIDA,
the Netherlands, GTZ and the Water Research Commission of the
RSA. All the Projects secured some indications of support from
Cooperating Partners except three Projects namely: Project 19
– Rehabilitation of Joint Monitoring Systems between Angola
and Namibia, Project 28 – Study of the Navigability of the
Zambezi and Shire Rivers and Project 29 – Stabilization of
the Course of the Songwe River. In March and April 2000,
Cooperating Partners like CIDA, NORAD, the EU etc. who had not
indicated their firm interest to support any of the Projects
were followed up on a bilateral basis. The bilateral follow up
was and is being done to secure more pledges from Cooperating
Partners.
Over
the year, a substantial amount of effort was put into
nurturing good cooperation between the Water Sector and
Cooperating Partners and the Partners among themselves. Three
highly successful meetings of the Water Strategy Reference
Group were held (May 1999, September 1999 and March 2000). One
Cooperating Partners consultation meeting was held in November
1999. Very useful strategic advice for the implementation of
the Regional Strategic Action Plan was obtained through these
meetings. The basic ideas on elaborating Project Concept Notes
emerged from these meetings. There is a lot of good will among
Cooperating Partners towards the implementation of the
Regional Strategic Action Plan.
Some
activities focusing on mobilizing the Stakeholders for the
purpose partly of implementing the Regional Strategic Action
Plan were undertaken during the time being reported. Workshops
supported by the Water Sector were held to finalize amendments
to the SADC Protocol on Shared Watercourse Systems (e.g. 27
– 31 March 2000). Further, Stakeholders in ten countries
were sensitized on the Protocol and the Regional Strategic
Action Plan through “Water Weeks” workshops in the last
half of 1999. The Website on the Water Sector was established
in April 2000.
The
Water Sector Stakeholders were consulted on matters related to
the Regional Strategic Action Plan through the Water Resources
Technical Committee of October 1999 and the four subcommittee
meetings that took place in March and April 2000. The
activities and reports on the Projects in the Regional
Strategic Action Plan were reviewed and the Program management
received guidance. Outstanding programme implementation
matters like the project approval processes, tender and
financial accounting procedures, programme focal persons at
national level, contribution of member States, determination
of the third smaller river basin etc. are receiving due
attention.
Coordination
between the Water Sector Coordination Unit and member States
on the implementation of the Regional Strategic Action Plan
also received attention between May 1999 and April 2000. Of
significance under this aspect were bilateral contacts in
March and April 2000 between the Unit and Malawi, Tanzania,
Namibia and South Africa on Projects 18,19, 27, 29, 30 and 31.
These contacts served the purpose of exchanging information on
the status quo and possible way forward.
With
respect to matters related to Programme management, a
Programme Steering Committee made up of representatives of the
Water Sector Coordination Unit and the UNDP Maseru was
constituted. The Committee reviewed programme implementation
progress and gave operational guidance. For purposes of
securing speedy and proper implementation of the Regional
Strategic Action Plan, the Water Sector Coordination Unit
initiated measures to correct its capacity weaknesses. A
substantive Programme Manager was employed and started work in
March 2000. Terms of Reference for the Needs Assessment Study
were finalized in March 2000. The Study will be embarked on
shortly. Initiatives to outsource expertise from other SADC
Coordination Units like the Gender, Transport, Mining and
Human Resources Development were made.
To
complement the institutional changes that were introduced to
enhance the implementation of the Regional Strategic Action
Plan, some administrative changes were introduced at the same
time. Professionals at the Unit were allocated the
responsibility of following up specific Regional Strategic
Action Plan activities. A comprehensive Workplan for the
Orientation Phase of the implementation of the Regional
Strategic Action Plan was prepared in March 2000. It is hoped
that the Workplan will give focused guidance to the
implementation of the Regional Strategic Action Plan
Good
progress has been achieved in the implementation of the
Regional Strategic Action Plan between June 1999 and May 2000
given the challenges that needed to be overcome. It was not
easy for the Unit to focus on the implementation of the
Regional Strategic Action Plan given its thin personnel base.
The Programme only got a substantive Programme Manager in
March 2000. A lot of background work needed to be done to
secure sufficient consultation on the Projects among the
Stakeholders and funding for the Projects from Cooperating
Partners. The institutional framework for coordination and
cooperation with Cooperating Partners and mobilization and
consultation with Stakeholders were put in place in the period
under review. Consensus on roles and on the way ahead for the
foreseeable future was reached. It is hoped that with these
institutions now in place, with consensus on the way forward
reached and increased focus on implementation matters expected
from the Water Sector Coordination Unit, more progress is
expected to be made in the months to come.
31
Priority Projects on Integrated Water Resources Development and Mangement
>>
Development
and Management in the SADC Countries
(1999-2004) >>
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