Orange River Basin Climate Resilience Agreement Signed

The African Water Facility (AWF) and NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD-IPPF) signed on January 31, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa, a letter of agreement with the Orange Senqu River Basin Commission (ORASECOM) to launch the Climate Resilient Water Resources Investment Strategy and Multipurpose Project Preparation for the Orange-Senqu River Basin, shared by Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. The co-financed project, amounting to about €3.5 million, includes contributions from AWF of about €2 million and $1.2 million from NEPAD-IPPF.

The main objective of this project is to promote sustainable socio-economic growth in the basin riparian countries through climate resilient water resources development in the framework of basin-wide cooperation led by the ORASECOM. The project will foster enhanced sustainable water resources management of the basin, increased investments based on better planning allowing more multipurpose projects to address the livelihood needs of the communities living in rural and urban areas.

Ensuring Water Security in Southern Africa. The Orange-Senqu River Basin originates in the highlands of Lesotho and runs over 2,300 km to its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean in Namibia/South Africa. The river basin spans over 1.0 million km2 and is one of the largest river basins in Africa. It encompasses all of Lesotho, a significant portion of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The basin poses complex water management challenges for safeguarding future water security. The central challenge being the assurance of water security under increased hydrological variability compounded by climate change impact.

http://reliefweb.int/report/botswana/awf-and-nepad-ippf-foster-climate-resilient-water-resources-development-southern

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