PAN AFRICAN CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS HOW TO MEET AFRICA'S WATER GOALS

PAN AFRICAN CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS HOW TO MEET AFRICA'S WATER GOALS

ADDIS ABABA, 17 November (ECA) -- Delegates from about 43 African countries will attend the first Pan African Implementation and Partnership Conference on Water (PANAFCON) in Addis Ababa from 8-13 December 2003, a statement from the UN-Water/Africa Secretariat, based at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said today.

The PANAFCON will be held under the aegis of the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW), which met last month in Ouagadougou to finalize its programme.

The PANAFCON will feature eight parallel thematic sessions:  Meeting Basic Needs -- Water, Sanitation and Human Settlements; Water for Food Security;  Protecting Ecosystems and Livelihoods; Managing Risks -- Water and Climate;  Financing Water Infrastructure; Integrated Water Resource Management/Shared Water Resources; Valuing and Allocating Water; Ensuring Water Wisdom and Governing Water Wisely.

It will also feature a multi-stakeholder consultation, a civil society segment and a segment specifically designed for African ministers and policy makers in charge of water to engage development partners.

The Chairman of UN-Water/Africa Secretariat, Dr. Josue Dione, who is also the Director of ECA's Sustainable Development Division, said UN-Water/Africa was determined to make sure that PANAFCON did not become another international talk-shop.

“It will help to determine how we can collectively implement the actions spelled out in international instruments, such as the African Water Vision 2025, the Millennium Development Goals and the water agenda of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).”

Dr. Dione said PANAFCON would also seek to secure inter- and intra-African commitments to the implementation of targets and build international support with development partners.

During the Conference, some key initiatives will be launched, including the African Water Facility, a mechanism for investment support for water resource management, the African Water Journal and the African Water Development Report, which will be published every two years.

The Conference is co-sponsored by ECA, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN-HABITAT, the African Development Bank (AFDB), NEPAD and the Ministry of Water Resources in Ethiopia.

For more information, please contact:  Adeyinka Adeyemi, Communication Officer, tel.:  251-1 44 35 37, email:  yadeyemi@uneca.org.

The documents of the meeting are available on:  http://www.uneca.org/panafcon.

Issued by the ECA Communication Team, P.O. Box 3001 Addis Ababa, tel:  +251-1-51 58 26, fax:  +251-1-51 03 65, e-mail:  ecainfo@uneca.org, Web site:  www.uneca.org.

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