Water Management: UNESCO Urges More Comprehensive Approach

The United Nations Edu
cational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has  urged stakeholders  to create a more comprehensive and integrated approach to water management.
The Director, UNESCO Regional Office in Abuja, Prof. Hassan Aliduo, gave the advice during a two-day sensitisation workshop on trans-boundary water security and cooperation in West Africa in Abuja.
Aliduo, who was represented by Mr Osu Otu, UNESCO National Officer on Science, stated that such approach was long overdue and was a missing key to making access to freshwater a reality for all.
He said that if any of the actors involved in water did not cooperate, the consequences would have adverse effects on human lives and the economy.
According to him, when water resources are collectively shared and managed, peace, prosperity and sustainable development are more likely to be achieved.
He said that the organisation would pursue the goals of peace, sustainable development and its multidimensional mandate by contributing to the management of the world’s freshwater resources.
According to him, the workshop will also lay emphasis on the International Shared Aquifer Resources Management (ISRAM-ECOWAS) and regional water dialogue platform to promote peaceful management of trans-boundary water system.
In his goodwill message, Mr Olusanjo Bamgboye, the Executive Director, National Water Resources Institute, Kaduna, said that the theme of the workshop was apt.
He said security in all its ramifications required cooperation and that water security was the backbone of Integrated River Basin Management or Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at the River Basin level.
“Also, flood loss reduction, pollution control, improvement of drinking water quality, recreation, education and introduction of natural or mandate cropping system tailored to deliver solutions at the river basin level,’’ he said.
According to Bamgboye, transforming the West African development environment will require massive investment in water resources development since water is a major and critical factor in any economic growth.