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Inter Basin Water Transfer Link Project of India |
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About Nile River Basin and The Region
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Over a period of several years the ten countries of the Nile have come together within the Nile Basin Initiative to develop and implement program in terms of a shared vision which they have agreed to. The shared vision is "to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources.” The countries of the Nile Basin are Burundi, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
The Nile Basin Initiative Strategic Action Program contains two main types of projects - Those to be planned and undertaken at Basin level with all the riparian countries involved called the "Shared Vision Program" (SVP), and those to be undertaken between two or more countries at subsidiary level, called "Subsidiary Action Programs" (SAP). There are two SAP programs - the Nile Equatorial Lakes program (NELSAP) involving Burundi, Democratic Rep of Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, and the Eastern Nile program (ENSAP) involving Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan. The objective of the Shared Vision Program is to build confidence and capacity across the Basin, whereas the Subsidiary Action Programs are designed to initiate concrete investments and action on the ground at local levels. The full project portfolio of Shared Vision Projects include:
Civil Society engagement - The Nile Basin Discourse Join
the Discourse The Discourse has initial funding from Canadian CIDA and is establishing an office in Entebbe, Uganda which will be separate from the NIB Secretariat. The Discourse project is initially being administered by the IUCN.
Objective of the Discourse
Background In 1992 the Council of Ministers responsible for water from the Nile countries began an initiative to promote co-operation and development in the Basin. Since then there has been an extensive process including the establishment of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) in February 1999. The NBI is likely to result in a range of projects and activities, some of which will be basin-wide, involving all countries in the basin, and some of which will involve groups of two or more countries. Some of the projects will be 'soft' comprising capacity building, confidence building, policy development etc., whilst others are likely to comprise 'hard' development of infrastructure, river management, flood protection, watershed restitution, hydropower etc.. These projects will have an impact on the people of the Basin and on global interests - it is important that as wide a group as possible are involved in this process.
Activities In June 2001 the 2nd Discourse workshop was held in Entebbe, Uganda at which it was agreed that the IUCN would host the project and provide a legal status for the proposed Discourse Desk to be established in Entebbe, Uganda. At the workshop a statement was prepared for the first meeting of the International Consultative Conference on the Nile (ICCON) - a donor meeting to raise funds for the NBI held in Geneva in June 2001. The Discourse was represented by 4 participants nominated at the workshop. In June 2001 the Discourse was represented at the ICCON meeting in Geneva by 4 people, supported by the IUCN. The Discourse presented a Statement at the meeting which was read by Dr. Patricia Kameri-Mbote of the African Centre for Technology Studies, Kenya. It is significant that the voice of civil society was heard at this meeting, the first time that the official Nile Basin Initiative was formally presented to the public. The statement highlighted that the representatives of Civil Society and NGOs engaged to that point in the Discourse supported the Nile Basin Initiative in its Vision and emphasised clearly that all people affected by the Initiative should have a voice and be heard. In March 2002 Canadian CIDA approved a grant of 1 m Canadian $ for the first year activities of the Discourse as a grant to IUCN to set up the Discourse Desk, recruit initial staff for the project and begin initial activities. In June 2002 the 3rd Discourse Workshop was held in Cairo, Egypt from 25 - 27 June 2002. The event was attended by 37 participants including academics, journalists and NGO representatives from 8 Nile countries, 2 international NGOs and representatives from international development agencies.
Rationale Each party is more or less articulate and more or less capable of influencing the perspective of the whole. The articulate and those who are able to use modern communication tools to their advantage are not necessarily those with the greatest legitimacy or those who will be most immediately impacted by development, in fact the converse is usually the case. It is particularly important, if a complete picture is to emerge, that the voice of the inarticulate and the poor is heard. This is often done on a proxy basis with the articulate speaking on behalf of the voiceless, particularly in the case of the very poor and sectors such as the environment. It cannot be assumed however, that the agendas of those who purport to speak of behalf of the voiceless are congruent with the agendas of the voiceless. It is always preferable to find ways to enable the poor to speak for themselves. It is a considerable challenge to create an environment where parties are able to share their perspectives and hear the views of others. It must be premised on the basis that everyone has a part of the picture and that there is no single truth in which all the aspirations of all parties come together. Instead there are many truths, the proponents of which need to interact, seek to understand each other and make compromises for a future which is inevitably inter-linked. Creating the environment in which such a dialogue can happen presents a number of challenges. The process of catalyzing a discourse and providing resources to ensure its effectiveness is itself inevitably going to influence the process. The discourse is not owned by any party or group of interests - it has no physical location - it is open-ended and has no forgone conclusions. It is a collective exercise through which opinions are modified and perspectives are broadened. In the particular instance of the Nile Basin, there is a great deal at stake and there are a great many different and divergent interests, both from within and from outside of the Basin. The voices of all interested and concerned parties need to be heard. Louder voices do not imply greater legitimacy or that the agendas of the articulate will promote the interests of the poor in the basin. The Nile river has important local, regional and global dimensions which results in there being a large number of interested parties concerned about the direct consequences and the externalities of poverty, conflict, environmental degradation and development. The discourse will involve civil society at large, NGOs, academia, the private sector, development agencies and governments. Facilitating the establishment and ongoing functioning of the discourse will be a delicate process which will need to be handled with care. The role of the World Bank and its partners in the Nile Basin Initiative will be critical. This will need to be the subject of ongoing discussion and planning.
Source: The Water Page |
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