Page 53 - CIWA-AR24

Horn of Africa

Next Steps
uring FY25, the HoA Groundwater water supply dynamics and companies and for GW4R client countries
D
f for Resilience program will execute transboundary interaction between to develop sound bidding documents,
the first works for rural water schemes communities under implementation, technical specifications, and contract
in Ethiopia, start rehabilitation of water capturing lessons learned to be used in management. Management models for
schemes in Somalia and Kenya, and the expansion of these initiatives. The rural water schemes adopted under this
begin aquifer assessments. CIWA team will document the three identified program will be informed by the applied
expertise will be used to assess the avenues for transboundary aquifer research, which will help assess and
quality of the procurement process and collaboration: (i) those emerging from the advise on institutional roles (of formal and
inform key technical challenges. The three feasibility studies currently being informal institutions) and their
GW4R-MIS will enhance monitoring and undertaken by IGAD (Dawa, Northern relationship with community engagement
investment quality, while facilitating Basement, and Shebelle aquifers), processes and potential roles of the
research and using the knowledge to (ii) other projects within the Merti Aquifer private sector in service delivery and
inform implementation. Using lessons that can emerge from the successful markets to ensure that efficiency, value
learned from the first batch of collaboration in the Dhobley-Liboi pilot, for money, sustainability, and
procurement contracts for the design and (iii) those emerging through accountability mechanisms are in place.
and construction of rural water schemes documenting transboundary interactions
in the borderlands, the CIWA team of across borderland investments and Work to address fragility and conflict will
experts is compiling a checklist of key bringing these interactions to high-level start with the production of more robust
features for ensuring designs are climate ministerial committees or meetings such community engagement guidelines,
resilient. This guideline will be used in the as the Borderland Committee between followed by key checks at various stages
procurement of the second batch of Kenya and Ethiopia. of sub-project implementation. That will
schemes and will be enhanced as more help ensure that investments consider the
lessons are learned from project The IGAD Groundwater Information needs of women and men from the
implementation. System will be enhanced and community, that sub-project designs are
operationalized through technical responding to the needs of women and
There is also ongoing work to expand support, backstopping, capacity other vulnerable populations, and that
the scope of the salinity guidelines for building, dissemination, support for conflicts over rangeland and water
site selection, going beyond the data entry, and facilitation of resources are assessed and treated from
decision tree. As the areas are affected data-sharing processes. This involves a the onset so that mitigation measures can
by high salinity and fluoride problems, variety of activities to support IGAD be developed.
expertise is required to develop including stakeholder engagement, data
treatment solutions at scale and assess standardization, quality assessment,
how to develop institutional capacity, capacity building, and dissemination
skills, financing, and markets. A guideline efforts. Through this support, UNESCO,
is also being written using input from the which has already helped produce a draft
first project sites to improve and monitor harmonized geology and hydrogeology
community engagement processes for map for the three countries, will support
water point management. Two new IGAD in fostering a comprehensive
regional knowledge-sharing events are approach to enhance the capabilities for
being planned to focus on these and sustainable groundwater management.
other relevant project issues, one of
them to be held at a higher political level UNICEF will inform, through evidence
at the IGAD Water Forum in mid-FY25. gathered in the field, on mitigation of
drilling risks and enhanced contract
At the regional IGAD meeting in May management on drilling contracts,
2024, representatives from Kenya, improving the understanding of the
Ethiopia, and Somalia met to discuss drilling market in the HoA by identifying
the opportunities, interest, and the associated risks, developing and
commitment to scale up implementing risk mitigation measures,
transboundary collaboration initiatives and advising on the adequacy of
on groundwater to more locations, management models for rural water
prioritizing sites already marked for supply and sanitation. It is anticipated
investment under GW4R. Countries that some drilling risk mitigation
agreed to continue to monitor the measures will target capacity
impact of the GW4R investments on improvement of the private sector/drilling

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