In 6 Island States

3 rd UNESCO/GEF IW: LEARN GROUNDWATER ITEGRATION DIALOGUE “MANAGING GROUNDWATER IN COASTAL AREAS

AND SIDS”

6-7 MAY 2014

Implementing Integrated Water Resource and Wastewater

Management in Atlantic and Indian Ocean SIDS: Early Lessons from

Participatory IWRM Planning

Daniel Nzyuko,Results & Knowledge Management

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share geographically similar features and fundamentally similar problems with regard to water resource management. These include and not limited to;

land-based sources of pollution, Groundwater & aquifer management; demand management Household water supply and wastewater management Agriculture consumption and agricultural pollution (e.g. ferti lizer

runoff ) Industrial consumption and pollution Saline intrusion Coastal erosion / protection and stabilization of coastlines Natural resource base - limited Capacity constraints (Human, Financial, Institutional challenges)

BACKGROUND

In acknowledgment of the vulnerability and the parti cular needs of SIDS , the project on implementi ng integrated water resources and wastewater management in Atlanti c and Indian Oceans SIDS (AIO IWRM) was formulated to address sustainable water management in the six parti cipati ng SIDS.

Durati on : four (4) year (up to 2016) Financing : by Global Environment Facil ity through UNEP and UNDP, 2 Implementi ng agencies

UNDP (C1 – Demonstrati on Project) UNEP (C2 IWRM Indicator Framework, C3 Policy, C4.Capacity and

awareness) Executi ng agency

UNOPS UNOPS W&E/Copenhagen– for UNDP/C1 demonstrati on project UNOPS KEOH/ Nairobi – for UNEP/C2-C4

Project Coordinati on Unit – based at UNEP DEPI, Nairobi (composed of 3 staff )

BACKGROUND

6 parti cipati ng countries :

IWRM – SIDS PARTNER COUNTRIES

Atlanti c OceanCape Verde Sao Tome and

Principe

Indian OceanComorosMaldivesMauriti us Seychelles

Goal of Project: To contribute to sustainable development in the Atlanti c and Indian Oceans Small Island Developing States (SIDS) through improvements in water resource and environmental management;

The overall Objecti ve is to ‘accelerate progress on WSSD targets and IWRM and WUE plans and water supply and sanitati on MDGs for the protecti on and uti lizati on of groundwater and surface water in the parti cipati ng countries’.

OBJECTIVES

4 overall project components:Component 1: Demonstration of Integrated water resource

management (IWRM) and Water Use effi ciency (WUE) – based on demonstration project (for example in Maldives; in the Island of AA Thoddoo)

Component 2: IWRM and WUE Indicator Framework and Monitoring (National and Regional)

Component 3: Policy, legislative and institutional reform for IWRM and WUE

Component 4: Capacity Building, Learning, KnowledgeExchange, & Replication

NB: Presentation will focus on early lessons in C1 (Demo projects)

PROJECT COMPONENTS

Based on the Nati onal Diagnosti c Analysis & Hotspot Analysis in 2009 & 2010

The main thrust is focus on country-driven and designed demonstrati on acti viti es focusing on sustainable water management based on IWRM approaches to bring signifi cant environmental stress reducti on benefi ts.

Groundwater and aquifer protection was a national priority in 4 out 6 participating countries – demonstrating the significance of GW in SIDS

Rationale of the demo project is to address these key national priorities based on ground intervention embracing IWRM - to demonstration benefi ts of IWRM application, and therefore create an appeal for their adoption at national and regional level

RATIONALE FOR DEMO PROJECT

Development and Implementati on of Targeted Demonstrati ons in IWRM and WUE

Cape Verde: Protecti on of groundwater resources, stabi l izati on of coastal terrains - integrated planning and management of wastewater col lecti on, treatment and reuse

Comoros: Water resource assessment and protecti on through IWRM planning & management

Maldives: Protecti on of a freshwater lens from sal inizati on and agro-chemical pol luti on, with improved drought season aquifer yields

Mauriti us: Protecti on and sustainable uti l izati on of the Northern Aquifer

Sao Tome & Principe: Integrated River basin management to enable equitable water resources al locati on and protecti on

Seychelles: Protecti on of a coastal aquifer through integrated land and water management measures

DEMO PROJECT – COUNTRY FOCUS /PRIORITIES

Given the context (highly vulnerable ecosystem, limited capacity, fragmented eff orts/interventi ons in most countries) and need to demonstrati on benefi ts of IWRM, the project designed a parti cipatory IWRM planning (PIP) workshops in each country at the onset of the project to initi ate parti cipatory planning and implementati on.Design of PIP workshops : Host by lead Government insti tuti on, bringing together all stakeholders / Multi -sectoral: water, agriculture, tourism, municipaliti es, Public health, Island authoriti es / councils, NGOs, Community representati ves, etc in discussion table.

PARTICIPATORY IWRM PLANNING (PIP)

3-days workshop, 1st day was dedicated to facilitated training on basic IWRM principles, participatory M&E, communication, IWRM&gender,etc; - in the context of the specifi c demonstration project focus eg – groundwater, demand management, integrated watershed mgt, etc). Day 2-3 focused on participatory planning

Established partnership with UNDP CapNet (capacity building on sustainable water resource management) to co-facilitate with Regional PCU.

PARTICIPATORY IWRM PLANNING (PIP)

In all the countries (except Mauriti us which is yet to hold the PIP workshop), the workshops which was designed to focus on demonstrati on project level stakeholders turned out to be a nati onal level consultati on on water issues (with both verti cal and horizontal integrati on - cross-sectoral and all levels, city mayors, water managers, university researchers, water service providers, top Island authority leadership, etc);

The workshops secured nati onal media att enti on (prime ti me news –see l inks at htt ps://www.aio-iwrm.org)

Empowerment and foundati on for IWRM approach: the facil itated training did only serve lay foundati on for IWRM approach and focus in planning, implementati on – but signifi cantly served to provoke informed consultati on, acti ve engagement and open dialogues.

KEY ISSUES AND LESSONS FROM PARTICIPATORY IWRM PLANNING (PIP)

In almost al l workshops, while it was admitt ed that it was not the 1 s t water interventi on, neither fi rst 1WRM project, but it was evidently appreciated that the approach to embrace and empower stakeholders at the onset for acti ve parti cipati on in planning and discussing stakeholders roles demonstrated open wil iness and transparency to that is required to mobil ize coordinati on within the water sector

Following the PIP workshop consultati on and planning, the chal lenges of lack of coordinati on and fragmented eff orts were apparent and the need to establish coordinati on platf orm was natural conclusion . So far, interim coordinati on structures are in place within framework of mandated insti tuti ons. Within a fair ly short ti me within the framework of the coordinati on platf orm, many other water related initi ati ves which were not foreseen are coming up; eg. In Comoros, the Governor of the Island of Mutsamundu (demo site) is mobil iz ing the mil itary to parti cipate in river cleaning acti viti es,

KEY ISSUES AND LESSONS FROM PARTICIPATORY IWRM PLANNING (PIP)

Summary of key lessons :1. Empowering stakeholders (through training, informati on sharing, etc) is

essenti al for acti ve and engaged parti cipati on in addressing water issues in general, and in SIDS in parti cular.

2. A coordinated cross-sectoral approach, embracing stakeholders at al l levels is vital to secure practi cal and sustainable soluti on to vulnerable groundwater resources in SIDS;

3. There is dire need to raise criti cal level of capacity within the SIDS (for practi ti oners, water managers and trainers) on IWRM with SIDS orientati on/context – to drive in development of IWRM road maps and their executi ons. The Minister in charge of water resources in Maldives “ we need IWRM capacity development for our engineers and water managers to realize our Government agenda on IWRM”, 12 March 2014.

KEY ISSUES AND LESSONS FROM PARTICIPATORY IWRM PLANNING (PIP)

Opportuniti es1. Practical opportunities to demonstrate results in SIDS context due to

their non-complex set up,

2. opportunities to mobilize and secure high level support (at national level).

3. Need and opportunities to establish partnerships for mobilization of fi nancial resources for water interventions in SIDS, but these needs to be brought in the key discussion platf orms / forums;

4. Opportunity to capitalize on the International year of SIDS to mobilize special att ention of the global community on signifi cance of groundwater resources for the SIDS – how can this dialogue contribute to that?

KEY ISSUES AND LESSONS FROM PARTICIPATORY IWRM PLANNING (PIP)

For more information, please visit the project website at: htt ps://www.aio-iwrm.org

Results and Knowledge Management Specialist:Daniel Nzyuko , danielnz@unops.org

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!