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Horn of Africa
A total of 1,038 potential investments sites are represented is building a tracker to create its own Water Resources User
in the MIS, including rural water‑supply construction and Association monitoring tool, building from what was developed
rehabilitation points, irrigation sites, potential locations for under the MIS.
managed aquifer recharge, and exploration and monitoring
wells. Multiple stakeholders use the platform to generate Accelerating progress from the previous year, Untapping
site-specific insights that directly inform GW4R implementation: Resilience has enhanced and operationalized the IGAD
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the Third-Party Monitoring Agency reviews individual site Groundwater Information System (IGAD GWIS), a centralized
records; UN partners derive context-driven analyses; UNICEF data storage, visualization, and dissemination platform.
uses data to recommend optimized O&M models; and the The IGAD GWIS aims to strengthen transparency, evidence-
project hydrogeologist applied it to select the second round based planning, and decision making about groundwater. The
of groundwater investments across five counties in Kenya. CIWA-supported World Bank-UNESCO partnership played an
The MIS is beginning to track functionality, including at six instrumental role in developing data standardization, collection,
newly completed Ethiopian sites. This pilot may contribute and regional sharing based on broad stakeholder consultation
to national efforts to develop a MIS for tracking site progress and in providing technical support during the development of
and functionality. Meanwhile, the Water Resources Authority the IGAD GWIS data portal.
KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTS:
ii. Groundwater’s Role in Addressing Fragility and
EnhancingResilience in the Borderlands
Community Engagement Guidelines: Confl ict-Sensitivity Analysis:
CIWA support enabled the project to complete The team used the conflict-sensitivity assessment
development and implementation of community tool developed under this initiative to carry out a
engagement guidelines. The guidelines call for conflict-sensitivity analysis on selected GW4R
social, environmental, gender, and technical investment sites in Kenya. The tool enabled the
specialists to work together to ensure that team to highlight transboundary risks and identify
investments address the needs of all community appropriate mitigation strategies.
members, that sub-project designs serve
women and other vulnerable groups, and that Policy Brief—Groundwater
any conflicts are identified and managed from Management in the Horn of Africa:
the outset so that appropriate mitigations can In collaboration with the Rift Valley Institute and
be put in place.
the Centre for Humanitarian Change, the project
researched the role of groundwater in addressing
Rangeland Guideline: fragility and enhancing resilience in the HoA
borderlands. Drawing on the study findings, the team
The team created a dedicated rangeland
guideline to align groundwater interventions produced a with recommendations for
with pastoralist resilience strategies and policymakers and development / humanitarian
to ensure that the necessary safeguards actors to adopt approaches to groundwater
are applied during GW4R implementation resource development that reduce conflict and
regarding environmental degradation, conflict, fragility. Recommendations included considering
and threats to community livelihoods. conflict dynamics, ownership, and control more
carefully in project design; developing more flexible
governance that involves both formal and informal
Salinity Guideline: institutions in water management; consulting and
The application of reverse osmosis technologies engaging more widely when developing water
for rural piped schemes is being piloted in Wajir projects; making water-sharing agreements
County, Kenya to mitigate high salinity, fluoride, clearer and more equitable and prioritizing their
and other mineralization issues. Learning enforcement; increasing climate resilience in water
from the pilot will be used to expand salinity projects; and ensuring groundwater development is
guidelines for water supply site selection. conflict-sensitive and context-specific.
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