Page 45 - CIWA AR25

View from the Field: Dr. Rafatou Fofana

Dr. Fofana participated in a CIWA training on the Water Accounting “Our water resource is vulnerable and if we don’t work together
(WA) tool in 2024, as the VBA was one of three RBOs to pilot the to reduce its vulnerability, we will all lose,” says Dr. Fofana.
development of Water Accounting Dashboards—innovative,
demand-driven tools using public domain data and scalable remote “Relations between upstream and downstream countries are

sensing technologies. WA Dashboards enable transparent and often a source of tension and conflict,” she says. “With increasing
standardized assessments of water use and availability at different pressures in our region, every country is striving to achieve water
geographic scales—fundamental to sustainable transboundary security, food security, and energy independence. We have
water management. Built on the WA+ methodology developed by shared resources, and we need common solutions. It’s all about
the IWMI, the dashboards are fed entirely by public data derived solutions.”
from satellites. This ensures open access, reduces costs, promotes
transparency and trust, and “would facilitate checking the impacts
of any activity or project on water resources by riparian countries if
staff from national technical directorates were directly involved in “IT’S ALL ABOUT
its development,” Dr. Fofana says.

The WA+ tool will enable the VBA to conduct preliminary SOLUTIONS”
technical assessments of countries’ project
proposals based on satellite imagery. “That’s how
we can determine whether a project will promote
regional cooperation and integration—or risk

triggering new conflicts over water use,” she says.
After the CIWA training, Dr. Fofana assembled a
community of practice to conduct additional online
training sessions as the tool evolves. “We will help improve
it for the benefit of all,” she says.

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