Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Hani Sewilam on Thursday 8/9/2022 discussed in a meeting with President of the fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 15) Alain Richard Donwahi ways of fostering joint cooperation in the field of water resources.
During the meeting, the irrigation minister underlined the importance of cementing joint cooperation, especially in light of Cote d’Ivoire’s presidency of the UNCCD COP 15 and Egypt’s chairmanship of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 27, which is slated to be held in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh in November.
Sewilam said African countries should make the best use of the current international momentum to shed light on water and climate challenges in Africa and draw the attention of the international community to the suffering of African states as a result of the negative effects of climate change on the water sector.
The irrigation minister pointed out that several world countries are facing extreme weather events that cause negative effects on the water sector.
In this regard, Sewilam called for placing the water issue on the world’s climate agenda to bolster the ability of world countries, notably African ones, to address this challenge, which, in turn, would help achieve the sustainable development goals related to water.
On his part, UNCCD COP 15 president and former Ivorian minister of water and forests, lauded the deeply-rooted relations between his country and Egypt.
Donwahi said the aim behind his visit to Egypt is to work on fostering bilateral cooperation and follow up on the country’s preparations for hosting COP27.
He also reviewed the great challenges faced by Côte d’Ivoire in the management of water resources, noting that his country is suffering from drought and desertification, a matter which requires exerting efforts to raise the efficiency of water use and find a mechanism for rainfall monitoring and forecasting.
The former Ivorian minister praised Egypt’s effective management of water resources, especially as the country enjoys a wide experience in terms of the optimum management of water resources and rainfall forecasting.
Source: State Information Service Egypt