Local and international NGOs in Benin to receive IWRM NSA funding by end 2018
Through the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands' (EKN) OmiDelta NSA programme, SNV, manager of the programme's Non State Actors (NSA) Fund, will soon award organisations with IWRM funding to improve watershed management and delta security for at least 300,000 people living in the sub-basin of the Lower and Middle Valley of Ouémé (BMVO).
The challenge
Eight years since the National Water Policy and National Action Plan for Integrated Water Resources Management (PANGIRE) were introduced in Benin, little progress has been made. Several operational bottlenecks, compounded by weak governance, poor sector coordination, limited knowledge in Integrated Water and Resource Management (IWRM) reform and water regulation, etc., have reduced the PANGIRE to a visioning document. This impasse has resulted in repeated flooding, water pollution, ecosystem degradation, and an unsanitary environment. Coupled with the pressures of a fast-growing urban population, incomes have been lost, so have lives.
SDG 15: restoring 'life on land' through the PANGIRE
The PANGIRE is the reference document for implementing IWRM activities in line with the National Water Policy. SNV will award several Benin-based organisations with NSA funding to demonstrate how the PANGIRE may be put to action, while ensuring the active participation and involvement of traditionally excluded groups: young people and women. NSA Fund partner activities will offer grounded insight and practical solutions in mitigating the following:
effects of climate change in the sub-basin of the Lower and Middle Valley of Ouémé (BMVO);
water resource degradation, characterized by disappearance of fisheries and shrinking ecosystems;
uncontrolled exploitation of water resources, which have led to water-related conflicts; and
water quality degradation, due to unsanitary practices such as effluent discharge with no treatment.
Selection and awarding
To date, selected organisations are now adapting their concept notes, and are in the midst of developing phased work plans. SNV in Benin is advising in the development of solid work plans in line with NSA Fund criteria. Final work plans are due on 17 September, and contracts will be awarded one month after.