West African states adopted a joint declaration in Abidjan aimed at strengthening the region’s water security, improving the governance of water resources, and accelerating investments in a sector increasingly exposed to the effects of climate change.
The text was adopted at the conclusion of the Regional Water Forum in West Africa held in Abidjan. It establishes several common areas of work, including improved financing, the sharing of hydrological data, cross-border cooperation, and the protection of watersheds.
A regional roadmap on water
The Abidjan Declaration emphasizes the need to better coordinate national policies in a region where many rivers and basins are shared between several states. The participants aim to strengthen alert, planning, and prevention mechanisms related to tensions over access to water.
The text also emphasizes investments in infrastructure, access to drinking water, sanitation, and climate adaptation. Governments are urged to mobilize more public and private funding to reduce current shortfalls.
Ivory Coast, which hosted this first edition of the forum, advocated for a coordinated regional approach. The Minister of Water and Forests, Jacques Assahoré Konan, notably called for making water security a common priority in the face of population growth, urbanization, and extreme weather events.
The Abidjan Declaration must now serve as the reference framework for upcoming regional water initiatives in West Africa.
