The World Water Council announced March 18th, 2000 that the Eighth Nile 2002 Conference will be convened June 26-30th, 2000 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Council is currently holding the Second World Water Forum in The Hague, The Netherlands. The Forum, attended by more than 3500 people from around the world runs from March 17-22, 2000. The World Water Council is an international water policy think-tank established as a non-governmental organization in 1996. Its membership is comprised of national institutions representing two-thirds of the world’s population. Scores of international, United Nations and non-governmental organizations are also members.
March 18th was devoted to the presentations of the Visions for Africa and the Middle East regions at the Second World Water Forum. A specific session was devoted to the Nile Basin in which the Nile Basin Initiative was presented.
The Nile 2002 conference series began in 1992 as a means to discuss management and cooperation among the riparian states of the Nile Basin.
"Ethiopia is proud to host once again the Nile 2002 Conference. Our offer should be seen as a reaffirmation of our commitment to the consultative process of the conference series," stated Shiferaw Jarso, Minister of Water Resources, Ethiopia. Ethiopia previously hosted the Fifth Nile 2002 conference in 1997. "I also firmly believe that the Nile water resource, which is shared by ten riparian states, should be developed and managed in a way that can provide benefits fairly and equitably to all the people in the basin," he confirmed.
The objectives of the Nile 2002 conferences are:
- To bring together experts from the Nile Basin, international experts and external support agencies to address specific topics related to the development of the Nile Basin;
- To discuss national water resources management strategies and action programs in the Nile Basin countries and their harmonization within the context of integrated Nile Basin development;
- To discuss options for a cooperative and institutional framework, and appropriate instruments for the Nile Basin;
- To enable participants to share experiences and exchange information related to the development of water resources;
- To review the progress and achievements of the previous Nile 2002 conference.
Emile Gauvreau, Vice-President of Africa and the Middle East Branch of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) stated "Canada has supported the Nile 2002 series since its inception in1992. We are committed to the process and impressed by the results achieved through these conferences. Once again, we are pleased to support the series with the 8th Nile 2002 Conference." Mr. Gauvreau added that, "Canada also continues to support the Nile Basin Initiative in a variety of ways through the Nile Secretariat, its Technical Advisory Committee and the Council of Ministers for Water Affairs in the Nile Basin."
The President of the World Water Council, Dr. Mahmoud Abu-Zeid added "The Vision for Water in the Twenty-First Century for the Countries of the Nile River Basin was developed first as part of the Seventh Nile 2002 conference held in Cairo in 1999." A consultation was held to develop the Vision. More than 450 participants from the Nile River Basin and representatives of several international organizations attended the conference. The consultations included several workshops dedicated to develop the vision along four tracks: Water for food and rural development; water for nature; water for people and hydro-energy; and water and institutional aspects. All these elements are contained in the Nile Basin Shared Vision program as elaborated during the Nile Basin Initiatives presentation at the Second World Water Forum.
