By Godfred Aaneamenga Polkuu
Bolgatanga, Aug. 25, GNA – Mr Robert Yaovi Dissoussie, the Executive Director of the Volta Basin Authority (VBA), has advocated structured involvement of stakeholders to manage the basin’s water and natural resources.
He noted that one of the founding principles of the VBA as indicated in its Convention and Water Charter, was the participation of users and civil society in decision-making processes.
He said the Authority was, therefore, “convinced that sustainable management of the basin’s water and natural resources cannot be achieved without the structured, legitimate, and informed involvement of those who depend on the basin for their livelihoods.”
Mr Dissoussie said this in a speech read on his behalf at a national workshop for the establishment of the National Coordination of Natural Resource Users (NUC-NR) – Ghana, held in Bolgatanga.
The day’s workshop attracted officials from the Water Resources Commission (WRC), VBA, Bui Power Authority, Sub-Basin Committee members within the local communities, representatives from Civil Society Organizations among others.
The workshop was part of the “Reversing Ecosystem and Water Degradation in the Volta River basin” (REWarD-Volta River basin) project, financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The Volta basin covers about 400,000km² shared between six countries including Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’ Ivoire, Mali and Togo.
It is fed by three major rivers, namely; the Black and White Volta, Oti River, and covered a diversity of eco climatic areas, which ranged from the Sahelian Regions to humid tropical zones.
Mr Dissoussie said the REWarD project was supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and implemented by the VBA together with the six countries and the Global Water Partnership in West Africa (GWP-WA) as the executing agencies.
He said the NUC-NRs was already established in Mali, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo and the last to be established in Ghana to reaffirm the collective momentum towards inclusive governance.
“At the end of the national exercises, the VBA will be holding a regional workshop to perform the regional representative of users at the basin level,” the Executive Director said.
Dr Mawuli Lumor, the Head of Policy, Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation (PPRME) of the WRC, encouraged participants to share knowledge, experiences and work together in the spirit of partnership.
He expressed confidence that the outcome of the workshop would shape the governance of the natural resources in Ghana and contribute to the regional architecture of user coordination across the six riparian countries of the Volta basin.
Dr Lumor noted that even though the Volta basin was a vital lifeline for communities, sustained agriculture, fisheries, energy production, transportation and livelihoods, it faced increasing threats from deforestation, land degradation, pollution and the impacts of climate change.
“These challenges remind us of the urgent need for sustainable and inclusive governance of our natural resources,” he said.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Benjamin Mensah