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East Africa

and uncoordinated efforts to promote provides equitable opportunities and investment program for urban
environmental sustainability, public health, benefits to communities across the NEL pollution management and watershed
and socioeconomic development. The region.” Strategy objectives include: restoration, mobilize resources for
policy encompasses policy and legal (i) preventing or reducing water pollution water-quality management, construct
framework harmonization across member and improving the quality of surface and wastewater treatment plants, improve
states, fortification of institutional groundwater sources, (ii) increasing waste management systems,
structures, and the establishment of resilience of communities and aquatic implement watershed management in
comprehensive water-quality monitoring ecosystems to climate change impacts, degraded areas, standardize water
and assessment programs. It targets the (iii) strengthening the governance sampling methods, build laboratory
reduction of pollution through improved framework for water-quality management capacities, promote research, and
wastewater management and advocates and pollution control in the Lake Victoria foster capacity building.
for the development of regional disaster Basin, (iv) improving regional cooperation
risk management strategies. The policy on climate change resilience, 5th Water-Quality Regional Workshop
also encourages research and innovation (v) strengthening the governance he 5th Water Quality Regional
T
partnerships and capacity building for framework for water-quality management Workshop was held in Entebbe,
water-quality management and and pollution control in Lake Victoria Basin, Uganda in June 2024 to review interim
addresses cross-cutting issues such as and (vi) improving regional cooperation to reports and baseline survey reports for
GESI and environmental sustainability. prevent pollution and manage the multi-criteria analysis to prioritize
water-quality on shared water resources. investments in the above-identified
Aligned with the East African Community water quality hotspots.
Water Quality Management Policy, the The Action Plan for 2025-2030 focuses
Water Quality Management Strategy for on establishing a Regional Water Policy
the Nile Equatorial Lakes and its Action Facility to support national water policy
Plan were prepared to respond to enhancements, setting regional
watershed degradation. The long-term water-quality objectives for Lake Victoria
goal is to contribute to “a prosperous and other shared waters, and initiating a
population living in a healthy and regional water-quality monitoring
sustainably managed environment that network. It also aims to develop a regional

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