Four priorities

The Dakar Forum will focus on four priorities, which will guide the discussions:

1. Water security and sanitation 
2. Cooperation 
3. Water for rural development 
4. Means and tools

For the first time, it will also promote solutions, with the “Dakar 2021” initiative, a project labeling system to accelerate progress, in particular towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

The participation of IFGR

A delegation from IFGR, led by Erik Orsenna, will be on site to participate in various sessions and intervene alongside OMVS (Organisation de Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal), one of its members, which is heavily involved in the organization of this event.

• 9:00 – 10:30 am GMT: Special Session on the Fouta Djallon Massif: Visions and actions to safeguard the “water tower of West Africa” – Room 2

Coordinated by the Organisation de Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Sénégal (OMVS), the Organisation de Mise en Valeur du fleuve Gambie (OMVG), the Niger Basin Authority (NBA), IAGF and The Bridge Tank.

With the expected participation of Hamed Diane Semega, High Commissioner, OMVS; Lansana Fofana, High Commissioner, OMVG (Organization for the Development of the Gambia River); Abdallah Boureima, Executive Secretary, NBA (Niger Basin Authority); Erik Orsenna, President, IFGR; Sangbana Komlan, Secretariat of the UN Water Convention; Houria Tazi Sadeq, President, Moroccan Coalition for Water (TBC); Fawzi Bedredine, Coordinator, OMVS; Issa Camara, President for Guinea, Niger Basin Users Association

• 10:45 am-12:15 pm GMT : Thematic session  : Halting the loss of biodiversity in aquatic environments – Room 1

Coordinated by Innovation Environment and Sustainable Development (IE2D)

With the presentation of 4 projects of Wetlands International Africa; Innovation Environnement et Développement Durable; Young Volunteers for Environment Cameroon and Vigilife-SPYGEN.

Broadcasting of a documentary film on the restoration of a wetland: the special reserve of avifauna of Ndiael, in Senegal.

Intervention of Marie-Cécile Grisard, Director, IFGR, on behalf of the Vigilife alliance – environmental DNA at the service of the knowledge of Life.

• 5:00-6:00 pm GMT: Side event: Towards basin peace: optimistic hydro-diplomacy and climate resilience 

Organized by OMVS and The Bridge Tank, with the Geneva Water Hub and IFGR

With the expected participation of Hamed Diane Semega, High Commissioner, OMVS; Judith ENAW, President, ANBO (African Network of Basin Organizations); Nizar BARAKA, President of INBO (International Network of Basin Organizations), Minister of Equipment and Water, Kingdom of Morocco; Hakima EL HAITE, former Minister of the Environment, Kingdom of Morocco, former Climate Champion for the United Nations; Christian BRÉTHAUT, Scientific Director, Geneva Water Hub; Erik Orsenna, President, IFGR

And the messages of support from Issoufou Mahamadou, former President of the Republic of Niger and Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former Prime Minister of the French Republic, President of Leaders for Peace

 

• 10:45 am-12:15 pm GMT: High-level policy segment dedicated to basins – Panel 1: National basins and policy integration, a contribution to sustainable development – Oval Room

Coordinated by INBO and OMVS

Key-note speech by Erik Orsenna, President of IFGR

High-level panel : Thierry Burlot, President, Loire-Brittany Basin Committee, France; Juan Carlos Alurralde, Secretary General, Intergovernmental Coordination Committee for the La Plata River (CIC); Bounkham Vorachit, Minister for Natural Resources and Environment, Laos; Niokhor Ndour, Director of Water Resources Management and Planning, Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Senegal; Ladislas Adrien Rakotondrazaka, Minister of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Madagascar; Teodoro Estrela Monreal, Director of Water, Ministry of Ecological Transition and Population Challenge, Spain

• 1:30-2:00 pm GMT: IFGR / Vigilife Conference: The Vigilife River Sentinel Program: the e-DNA to know and protect river biodiversity – French Pavilion

With Erik Orsenna, President of IFGR; Franck Pressiat, Chief Manager of the Environment Division, Engineering and Major Projects Department of CNR and Vincent Prié, Project Director of Spygen

Presentation of the Sentinel River program and the scientific missions carried out on the Maroni, in French Guiana and on the French Rhone to understand and monitor the biodiversity of rivers using environmental DNA technology.

•  3:00-4:00 pm GMT: IFGR / Artois-Picardy Water Agency Conference: Between river and sea: bays and deltas, front lines of climate change – France Pavilion

With  Erik Orsenna, President of IFGR; Stéphane Haussoulier, President of the International Affairs Commission of the Artois Picardy Water Agency and President of the Somme Bay; Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Moïse Diedhiou, Deputy Director of the National Parks Department, Republic of Senegal

The deltaic zones are at the forefront of the impacts of climate change, while they are essential living and development basins for half a billion people in the world. A global approach, from source to sea, is necessary to develop resilience. This conference will present the example of issues and solutions implemented in two exceptional natural sites: the Bay of the Somme in France and the Saloum Delta in Senegal.

To know more about the Forum