Niger River Basin : Nine countries make commitments

Nine countries bordering the Niger River make a series of commitments to improve access to water and sanitation. Over 100 million people are concerned.

Developping the right to water and sanitation, integrating priorities of access to water and sanitation in national budgets, optimising water consumption, and encouraging irrigation all represent firm commitments made on Monday 12 March 2012 during the 6th World Water Forum by Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Chad.   The Heads of State of the Niger River Basin, 4,200 km long and covering 210 million ha, look to establish a common vision for river basin development. Thus, they call for a strong favour access to water and sanitation and integrated water resources management. The Niger River basin assures the livelihood of around 100 million inhabitants distributed among the nine countries. Joint commitments   Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger, and Henri de Raincourt, French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and in charge of cooperation, presented a synthesis of the recommendations adopted during the forum "Solidarity for water in the River Niger Basin countries" held on 17 and 18 October 2011 in Bamako.   Habib Ouane- Minister of Energy and Water of Mali, Michel Camdessus- Governor of the Bank of France and Marc Gentilini- General Delegate of the Chirac Foundation for access to quality health all reaffirmed the joint commitments for a sustainable management of the Niger River. “If it is difficult to starve to death, it is easy to die from thirst,” mentions Professor Gentilini.   On behalf of the Niger Basin countries heads of State, Idriss Déby Itno- President of Chad and President of the Niger Basin Authority, assures that “the signature of these commitments marks the outcome of works made by politicians, experts and members of civil society during the ‘forum de Bamako.” The member countries also promise to further their commitments at the upcoming Rio +20 summit.