WaterNet
From TrustAfrica wiki - African Regional Organizations
WaterNet Secretariat
University of Zimbabwe Campus
P.O. Box MP 600 Mount Pleasant
Harare, Zimbabwe
Tel: +263 4 336725/ 333248
Fax: +263 4 336740/ 303280
E-mail: waternet@eng.uz.ac.zw
Website: http://www.waternetonline.ihe.nl
Martha Hondo, Secretary, martha@eng.uz.ac.zw
Description
The idea for WaterNet emerged in May 1997 at the SADC-EU conference on the Management of Shared River basins in Maseru, Lesotho, where Ministers of water from Southern Africa and Europe emphasized the need to ‘level the playing field’ between riparian countries and develop capacity building programs to achieve this goal. The University of Zimbabwe, Institute of Water and Sanitation Development IHE Delft (now UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education) jointly developed the concept of pooling expertise among universities in the region allowing the establishment of a broad and multidisciplinary program with specialisations tailored to a wide spectrum of post graduate students. A regional network in Southern Africa would enhance access to education, training and promote research on integrated water resource management. This concept came to be known as the WaterNet program that was subsequently endorsed by the then SADC Water Sector Coordination Unit and the Global Water Partnership (GWP). After extensive consultations in the region, eighteen institutions founded WaterNet in March 2000 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
The vision of WaterNet is a future in which the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has the institutional and human capacity to educate and train its own water managers, contribute to the equitable sharing and sustainable utilization of water resources for poverty alleviation, economic development (livelihood security) and environmental security. This vision is also reflected in its mission of building regional institutional and human capacity in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) through training, education, research and outreach by harnessing the complementary strengths of member institutions in the region and elsewhere. The enhanced capacity should enable the people of Southern Africa to manage their water resources in a more efficient, equitable and sustainable manner.
WaterNet pursues diverse objectives including strengthening the overall human and institutional capacity of the water sector in the Region in order to contribute to the wise use of water resources; stimulate regional cooperation in the field of education in Integrated Water Resource Management; increase access to training and education in Integrated Water Resource Management for participants from the Region; and, stimulate, regionalize and strengthen research in the field of Integrated Water Resources Management.
To achieve these objectives, the organization involves itself in various activities. The activities are to encourage and facilitate cooperation between member institutions on research, training and education in the field of Integrated Water Resource Management; develop training curricula in Integrated Water Resource Management appropriate to the Region; establish a regional Master Program in Integrated Water Resources Management; encourage and facilitate research in fields related to integrated Water Resources Management; act as a channel for technical, financial, human and material resources for the benefit of WaterNet member institutions; and, organize regional symposia, conferences and meetings for the furtherance of its objectives.
WaterNet pursues its objectives and carries out its activities in close cooperation with the SADC Water Sector Coordination Unit and the Southern African Water Partnership. Members of WaterNet are institutions based in the Region that are involved in training, and/or education, and/or research in fields directly related to Integrated Water Resource Management. Supporting Members of WaterNet are institutions active in the Region that are involved in activities in fields directly related to Integrated Water Resource Management other than training, education and research.
This organization derives its finances from grants and donations channeled through the WaterNet Trust, as well as income from activities, loans and other sources. WaterNet also has ‘supporting members’. These members support the organization not only financially but also by sharing their expertise and facilities. These currently include the SADC Water Division - Directorate for Infrastructure and Services, Gaborone, Global Water Partnership-Southern Africa (GWP-SA), the Netherlands and Swedish governments and UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft.
Track Record
WaterNet has made an enormous positive impact during its existence. A central activity was the establishment of an education program of short professional courses in IWRM in 2005 and a Masters Degree Program in Integrated Water Resource Management which began in 2003. This was the first time that universities in the region decided to offer joint educational programs in water resources.
WaterNet has established an impressive Master's program in integrated water resources management, offered by 23 universities in the region. It has awarded a Master of Science degree to 46 water managers from 8 different countries in the region, 15 of them being women. Thirty are still studying or working on their theses. The subjects studied address the challenges facing the region and the milestones thereof like the Dublin Conference on Water and the Environment in 1992, the Second World Water Forum in The Hague in 2000, the WSSD, Rio+10 conference in Johannesburg in 2002 and the Third World Water Forum in Japan last year.
One of the objectives of the post-graduate program was to coin a common language of the central concepts in Integrated Water Resource Management. This allowed water managers to effectively communicate with experts from other disciplines, such as resource economists, environmentalists, lawyers, planners, community representatives, scientists, health professionals, engineers etc. In the post-graduate program, institutions contributed and shared their comparative strengths in water-related expertise. In this way high quality comprehensive course programs were offered in a relatively short time. Pooling expertise is seen as the most efficient method towards a course program that is truly inter-disciplinary, encompassing all the important aspects of Integrated Water Resource Management. The degree program has helped to enhance capacity to deal with cross-border issues of some of the weaker countries in the region.
WaterNet holds Annual Water Symposia which are a platform for water professionals in Southern Africa to share advances in research and education related to Integrated Water Resource Management. New opportunities and developments towards the integrated management of scarce fresh water resources are discussed. This series of Symposia has and will still help forge a regional family of water professionals concerned with the wise use of water and has become the key annual event in water research in southern Africa. So far, 7 symposia have been held from 2000–2006.
The organization has successfully established a network of partners and collaborators in the field of Integrated Water Resources Management. WaterNet activities are carried out jointly and collaboratively with various WaterNet partners i.e. SADC Water Sector Coordination Unit; Global Water Partnership Southern Africa; University of Zimbabwe; Institute for Water and Sanitation development (IWSD); and Southern Africa Water Information Network (SAWINET).
The organization has been organizing the WaterNet/WARFSA symposia which have been held annually in the region for the past decade. The purpose of the joint annual symposia is to facilitate the dissemination of research results. It brings together more than 100 water specialists from the region: scientists, students, professors, water managers, politicians and international experts who have had productive meetings in Maputo, Capetown, Dar es Salaam, Gaborone to meet and exchange ideas. WaterNet has attracted international attention and gained scientific recognition.
Challenges
Although it has made constructive contributions to the society, WaterNet still faces a number of challenges. Data (hydro-meteorology, physical, environmental, socio-economic etc.) is very important for the planning, development, operation and management of water resource schemes. Data collection is usually a hard task especially for developing countries. This is usually due to lack of capital, trained personnel etc. Data collection in hydro-meteorology requires the use of specialized equipment which has to be purchased from abroad. The use of such equipment also requires highly trained personnel even if it is at a technical level. This requires a high budget and with high competition for funding among the different sectors, water departments receive a low budget for data collection activities. Some governments in developing countries do not see the importance of data collection, and given the fact that data collection in water resources (hydrology) is a continuous process. Therefore, such efforts also suffer continuously.
The organization also needs a highly trained inter-disciplinary team to carry out complicated activities in the Water sector. This highly trained interdisciplinary team is often lacking in most developing countries. Such a team can be available through hiring of experts from developed countries. This requires funding. Here is an opportunity for donors.
Besides, for the organization’s work to be successful, a bottom up participation in the design process, coordination among all the sectors of the population and a strong local control of all the activities is needed. This coordination among various sectors is very difficult given the different sectors have different objectives and missions to achieve.
Opportunities
The Millennium Development Goals present an enormous challenge to Africa. It has to raise the living standard of the world's poorest people and address the environmental problems facing future generations. In Southern Africa, these challenges are very much water-related. The lack of adequate water and sanitation services are a core aspect of poverty and demand innovative approaches, know-how and knowledge. The capacity to address these issues and to generate new knowledge must be anchored in the minds of a new generation of water managers. WaterNet has made a start here but has still a long road to travel down. A great deal of relevant research has yet to be done — community-based research involving those who are the most affected. Much work is needed on the ground to pilot, mainstream and implement sustainable approaches. There is also a need to develop and implement innovative approaches to low-cost sanitation, ecological sanitation and inexpensive water purification technology. In order to improve agricultural production, there must be research into rainwater harvesting, dry spell mitigation, eco-technology, technology to improve crop yields and drought resilience. Communities must have instruments to cope with disasters. These include flood-proofing, flood warning and flood preparedness. There is still so much left to be done and, this presents many opportunities for the organization to take advantage of.
