Update – January 2002
Len Abrams
Introduction
Dear friends and colleagues, this is a brief update on the progress of the Nile Basin Initiative and the establishment of the NGO and Civil Society Discourse on development in the Nile Basin.
Since the meetings in Entebbe in June 2001, which were mainly to enable the NGO and Civil Society sector to prepare for the ICCON meetings, there has been progress within the Nile Basin Initiative towards further co-operation between Nile Basin countries and towards the implementation of the plans of the Initiative.
There has also been some progress towards the setting up of a Discourse Desk in Uganda which was also discussed at the Entebbe Workshop.
Report on the Entebbe Meeting
I have attached a report on the Entebbe Workshop which I compiled from my notes. Please note that this is not meant to be a set of minutes of the meeting but rather a brief over-view record of the event. If you have any comments on the report and items which should be changed or added, please let me know.
Reflections on ICCON
The ICCON meetings in Geneva in June 2001 were an impressive affair. There is a lot of information on the content and proceedings on the official NBI Internet site - www.nilebasin.org - including some photographs. The two main objectives were to publicise the NBI and to raise pledges of financial support for the range of projects proposed through the three main programs - the Shared Vision Program which will benefit all countries of the Basin, the Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program (ENSAP) which will benefit Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt, and the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP) which will benefit Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC, but which includes Egypt and Sudan in the planning process as they are downstream riparian states. 140 million US$ was pledged, some sources specifying particular projects and some contributing towards the Initiative as a whole. In this respect the meetings were a success.
The atmosphere of the meetings were very encouraging. The statement made by the NGO / Civil Society Discourse (which was prepared at the Entebbe meeting) was excellently presented by Dr. Patricia Kameri-Mbote on behalf of the delegation and well received by the meeting. A number of comments were made by a variety of donors (bi-lateral agencies, UN agencies etc.) on how important the engagement of NGOs and civil society will be to the whole initiative and to their continued involvement.
It was possible during the 3 days we were in Geneva to meet as a group and discuss the establishment of the Discourse Desk in Uganda and the development of the proposal for the Desk. These discussions were quite heated at times and were useful to help clarify the thinking of the group. A draft proposal for the establishment of the Discourse Desk was developed and discussed and then circulated to a limited number of potential donors. Interest was expressed but no commitments were made. This proposal and its budget have since been further refined and edited.
Activities since ICCON
Gearing up for the implementation of the Shared Vision Program.
The proposals presented to the ICCON meeting in Geneva were developed with extensive input from government officials from the Nile Basin countries and approved at Ministerial level. They set out the intentions of the countries very clearly but they did not go into a great deal of detail as to how the projects would be implemented. In order to clarify such issues and to meet the requirements of the organisations which have pledged support for the projects, an Implementation Review Meeting was held in Entebbe in mid-October 2001. This cleared the way for inception phase activities to begin on the Shared Vision Projects.
Moving towards the establishment of a joint office in Addis Ababa.
Steps have already begun to establish an Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office (ENTRO) in Addis Ababa in terms of an agreement reached between the Ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. ENTRO will be managed by three senior officials, one from each country. Final arrangements are being made and it is expected that the Office will begin to function by the end of this year. The role of the Office will be to support the implementation of the ENSAP program and to ensure good communications between the three governments involved.
Setting up a Co-ordination Unit in Entebbe for the Nile Equatorial Lakes Region.
Steps have also begun in the establishment of a Co-ordination Unit to support the implementation of the NELSAP. This will be based at the NBI offices in Entebbe. A Coordinator from the NEL region who will be responsible for running the Unit has been selected through a competitive process. He will be moving to Entebbe shortly to initiate the NEL Co-ordination Unit.
The way is cleared for the IUCN to support of the NGO - Civil Society Discourse on the Nile
The IUCN has approved the concept of establishing a Discourse Desk in Entebbe for which they will provide administrative and project backup as an IUCN project (this is because the Discourse will not be an established organisation initially as discussed at the Entebbe in workshop in June 2001).
Next step in the Discourse
The next steps in the establishment of the Discourse Desk would seem to be the following -
Firstly, the funds for the establishment and functioning of the Desk need to be raised. We already have a few leads to follow up on from the ICCON meeting and I am very confident that we will be able to raise the funds;
Secondly, we need to begin the process of recruitment of the Discourse Facilitator, once the funds have been raised: and
Thirdly, it is proposed that we hold a further workshop perhaps in April or May 2002, funds permitting, to be attended by as many NGO/Civil Society representatives as possible from within the Nile Basin and further afield to review in detail the progress of the NBI, to go on the next step in establishing the Discourse Desk, and to brainstorm on critical issues affecting the Nile River Basin.
In conclusion
The process of establishment of the Discourse, which will strengthen the role of NGOs and civil society in the implementation of the Nile Basin Initiative, is underway, even if it seems to be slow at times. The development of the projects which make up the NBI is equally having to chart an intricate course, however, and it remains important to establish the Discourse Desk as soon as possible so that NGOs and civil society can play their proper roles in the process.
We will endeavor to keep in touch with developments and to keep you all informed.
Len Abrams