On 24 April, the Executive Secretary of AMCOW, Dr Rashid Mbaziira, had consultations on continental mobilisation for COP27 with H E Muhammed Aty, Minister for Water Resources and Irrigation, Egypt. AMCOW is working with AUC, AUDA-NEPAD and FARA to deliver a decadal climate-smart agriculture framework (ACSAF) to meet Africa’s food and nutritional security targets. AMCOW is leading the thematic dialogue on water.
Their discussions focused on how the water dialogue process for ACSAF can contribute to achieving Egypt’s objectives for a Water Day and Water Pavilion at COP27. The topics included: capacity development on early warning systems for floods and droughts; adaptation to climate change and climate variability; increasing productivity of agricultural water use; and cost-recovery from water infrastructure development.
It was agreed to share the outcomes of the thematic dialogues on the water during the CWWinfo. Highlights shall include a funding strategy for the ACSAF, case studies of success stories from the Member States on adaptation and mitigation, and a policy-level segment for ministers to consider the ACSAF for adoption.
Closer cooperation to organise the Africa Water Week and the CWWinfo was also discussed among plans to consolidate AMCOW’s status as a political convenor of international renown. Egypt is committed to supporting the Secretariat to mobilise the Ministers responsible for water and sanitation to achieve critical mass on common African positions and strategies to mitigate the climate crisis.
Among other matters discussed were the upcoming AMCOW events. These include the Northern Africa Regional Meeting; and the Stockholm World Water Week 2022.
H E Muhammed Aty also shared information on Egypt's opportunities for collaboration on IWRM training and capacity development. A visit to the 6th of October Training Institute – Regional Centre for Training and Water Studies (RCTWS) of Arid and Semiarid Zones in Cairo was arranged.
