Tanzania to assume leadership of Nile Basin Initiative

{Tanzania will this week assume leadership role of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) when the Minister for Water Prof Jumanne Maghembe takes over from his Sudan counterpart Muntaz Abdalla Salim this Friday.}

The hand over is slated to take place in the capital Dodoma during the 23rd Annual Nile Council of Ministers meeting.

The ministers will deliberate on the status of the Nile cooperation and how to move it forward. They will also review progress made by the NBI in the previous fiscal year as well as consider the plan and budget for the coming year and provide strategic guidance.

The 23rd Nile-COM meeting will be preceded by the 44th Nile-Technical Advisory Committee (Nile-TAC) Meeting. The Nile-TAC which comprises Technical Representatives from NBI Member States oversees the work of NBI and offers technical support and advice to the Nile-COM on matters related to the cooperative management and development of the common Nile Basin water resources.

The Nile-TAC, NBI Management, Representatives of Development Partners and the Civil Society will participate in the 23rd Nile-COM meeting as observers.

The change in leadership is in accordance to the NBI tradition of rotating the position of chairmanship of the Nile-COM among the 10 Member States on an annual basis following the alphabetical order of the name of the countries.

The Nile Council of Ministers is the NBI’s highest decision making body, it provides policy guidance, approves programmes and projects as well as work plans and budgets.

NBI is a regional intergovernmental partnership launched by the Nile Basin countries on 22nd February, 1999 to manage and develop the shared Nile Basin water resources in a cooperative manner, share substantial socio-economic benefits and promote regional peace and security.

NBI Member States are Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda while newcomer Eritrea participates as an observer.

The partnership is guided by a Shared Vision Objective: ‘To achieve sustainable socio-economic development through equitable utilisation of, and benefit from, the common Nile Basin water resources’.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN