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Sixth Ordinary Session of the African Ministers’ Council on Water
28-31 May 2007 | Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
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Curtain Raiser
28 May 2007 &
29 May 2007
Daily web coverage
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Dailies & Summary compilation
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Daily web coverage:
Monday, 28 May 2007 - Tuesday, 29 May 2007 - Wednesday, 30 May 2007 - Thursday, 31 May 2007

Highlights for Monday, 28 May 2007

A Youth Forum on Water and a Civil Society and Media Forum convened on Monday, 28 May in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, in the lead-up to AMCOW-6, which commences on Wednesday, 30 May. At the Youth Forum, local children discussed water supply and sanitation issues and the role of AMCOW and engaged in water-related educational activities. The children also met with the AMCOW President in the afternoon and prepared a statement to be presented to ministers on Wednesday. At the Civil Society and Media Forum, participants met throughout the day exchanging views and experiences relating to water supply and sanitation issues in Africa.

Civil Society and Media Forum
Malik Gaye, Environnement et Développement du Tiers Monde (ENDA), called for the increased provision of microcredit to individuals and community-based organizations to replicate successful examples already undertaken.
Jamillah Mwanjisi, Sustainable Water and Environmental Sanitation in Slums, Arid and Semi Arid Lands - ANEW, opened the Civil Society Forum, noting that participants had come from many countries.
Desta Demessie, Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church, explained that his organization provides self-help programmes to groups living in the poorest areas to change the “dependency syndrome.”
Morning session
Goretti Linda Nassanga, Makerere University, highlighted how journalists and civil society organizations, acting collectively, can influence decision makers to bring about positive environmental change.
Frank Habineza, Nile Basin Discourse Forum in Rwanda, explained that his organization, which is active in ten Nile Basin countries, seeks to raise awareness of, and enhance cooperation with, Nile Basin projects and to engage in poverty reduction strategies.
Edward Kairu, ANEW, highlighted his organization's activities and anticipated the signing of a memorandum of understanding between AMCOW and ANEW.
Evariste Kouassi-Komlan, Le Centre Régional pour l'Eau Potable et l'Assainissement à faible coût (CREPA), said research is a critical issue for disseminating information and for developing actions on the ground.
Simon Thuo, Global Water Partnership (GWP), described water-related challenges in East Africa, including population pressure, climatic unpredictability, overexploitation of natural resources and armed conflict.
Hamid Chrifi, ENDA Maghreb Alliance for Water
Desta Demessie, Ethiopian Kale Heywot Church; Malik Gaye, ENDA; and Frank Habineza, Nile Basin Discourse Forum in Rwanda
Annick Balley, Office of Radio and Television in Benin (ORTB)
Francis Bougaire, AMCOW Secretariat
Jocelyn Ahoga, Developpement Communautaire et Assainissement du Milieu
Hamid Chrifi, and Zouhour Himmich, ENDA Maghreb Alliance for Water
Participants during the morning session.
Tamiru Alemayehu, Groundwater Group, UNEP
Rosemary Olive, Women International Coalition Organization (WICO)
Gaster Kiyingi, Global Water Partnership (GWP) Eastern Africa
Youth Forum on Water
Youth get together prior to the start of the morning session.
The children were divided into groups, creating wall hangings depicting personal interpretations of threats, needs, chances and aspirations regarding river uses; playing games and doing water-related experiments; listening to water-related stories; and constructing a three-dimensional model of human interventions in the water cycle, including a model village.