Water

This presentation aims to show the link between water availability and forest ecosystem functioning. In other words, we seek to explain how the deficit of water resources in forests could affect the mitigation capacity of forests to climate change. Indeed, trees and forests, in general, sequester greenhouse gases, particularly atmospheric CO2, and contribute to the fight against climate change. This important ability of forests remains functional thanks to the mechanism of photosynthesis which is strongly dependent on the availability of water.

Building on two public debates bringing together Young Voices of the Sahel (100 young people from 10 Sahelian countries) and political decision-makers and experts, the session aims to hear the testimonies of young people around the issue of water in their daily lives, and to promote an exchange with political actors and experts to outline solutions, particularly by putting these young people in the position of actors of change, and supporting their access to courses and green jobs.

Halam-Bi.sn ("environment" in Wolof) aims to provide a unique digital platform allowing city officials to manage in a dynamic, enlightened and collaborative way, the environmental issues (air-water-noise) posed on their territory. To know, inform, collaborate and collect the feelings of its fellow citizens, such are the objectives of Halam-Bi.sn

Responsible consumption, micropollutants in the sea and in wastewater, plastic pollution, the congestion of sewage systems, the prospects for co-treatment: so many problems and solutions that show how water and waste management are linked.
The complicity between these two essential services, which MDGs 6, 11, 12 and 17 make it possible to stage in megacities and elsewhere, deserves to be told by the actors and experts.

This session will address the issue of integrated natural resource management, with a focus on shared transboundary groundwater and its interaction with surface water. Relevant results obtained in the context of land restoration will be highlighted. It will also comprehensively address the challenges of integrating ecosystem accounting into countries' planning processes.
It will bring together representatives of basin organizations working in these areas, national or regional cooperation and/or development agencies and national partners.
The specific objectives are :

The objective of the session is to showcase possibilities of conflict-sensitive decision-making that is based on thorough analysis of the ground-level conditions – from political level to small communities. This session is complementary to another session organised by the FREXUS partners, the Water Peace and Security Partnership (WPS), that will tackle the complex interconnections between Water, Conflicts and Peace at a broader level.

The Ecological Water Initiative aims to build relationships with national and international institutions working in the field of water resources management,
to generate scientific evidence to support national and local policy reforms in favor of ecological water. Because of its transversality, ecological water management requires a multi-stakeholder and multi-level partnership.

The Green PES program has identified six sectors as priorities after a participatory and transparent analysis process, including the Water and Sanitation sector.
The session will discuss (i) the objectives of the Green PES for the water and sanitation sector in a circular economy perspective, (ii) the public policies to be put in place, (iii) the experiences capitalized in other countries and (iv) the investment opportunities to achieve the Green PES objectives for the sector.

The session is designed as a space for exchange between participants on the governance of the water and sanitation sector and to share experiences on the institutional framework and operational mechanisms for implementing national development strategies for the water and sanitation sector in African countries.

The Sahel is characterized by drastic climatic conditions, recurrent droughts, land degradation, poverty, malnutrition, forced migrations. The Great Green Wall Initiative was created in response to this contact with the vision of restoring the viability of the natural capital and productive systems of the Sahelian lands and transforming them into areas of economic prosperity that are perfectly integrated into the economic fabric of the countries. The Initiative integrates the three paradigms of Restoration / Development / Security.