African Water Development Report 2006 - United Nations Economic ...

African Water Development Report 2006tersectoral cooperation and fostered cooperationamong stakeholders in Member States, amongscientists from diverse intellectual traditions, andamong complementary programmes and projectswithin UNESCO’s areas of activities. Thispooling of expertise and experience provides thenecessary foundation for developing integratedsolutions to challenging coastal problems basedon the combination of scientific practices withtraditional practices. It is only when scientificand technological knowledge in water managementtakes into consideration traditional wisdomthat ‘wise practices’ can emerge and contribute toa water cultural awareness. The main aim of theUNESCO Chairs programme, an internationalinter-university network established in 1991, is tohalt the “brain drain” from developing countriesand promote the development of university networkingand other cooperation agreements. Theother objective is to link institutions of highereducation at the interregional, regional and subregionallevels. Special attention is paid to establishingcooperation among higher education institutionsin developing countries (South-Southcooperation) particularly in Africa. The UNIT-WIN/UNESCO Chairs programme, is seen asspecially suitable for Africa and has been constantlyexpanding ever since its establishment.The number of UNESCO Chairs established inAfrica is constantly on the increase. There are atpresent 63 of them, some of them coordinated byEuropean inter-university networks. A full list ofChairs involving all types of disciplines may beconsulted at the website.(see www.unesco.org./education/educprog/unitwin/index.html).Examples of projects undertaken by the UNES-CO Chair at the university of Dakar to promote‘wise practices’ include:(a) Conservation and restoration of the mangroveecosystem at the Saloum Delta Biosphere;(b) Reserve, Senegal;(c) Improvement of hygienic and environmentalconditions, Yeumbeul, Senegal;(d) Socio-cultural issues in a traditional coastalcommunity, conservation of biological andcultural diversity, Yoff, Senegal.Public Awareness through Water-relatedPeriodical CampaignsOne of the most important events, if not themost important, of the last century was thelaunching of the International Hydrological Decade(1965-1975) which laid the foundation forhydrology to develop into what is now recognizedas the scientific basis of any rational developmentand management of water resources. Thedecade encouraged decision makers in developingcountries to allocate resources for the instrumentationof some selected river basins and,for the first time, automatic rainfall and waterlevel recorders were introduced into such countries.The successive phases of the InternationalHydrological Programme have also gone a longway to sensitize the water resources communitiesto acquire and share the knowledge bases beinggenerated through these programmes. Effectivenessof public awareness initiatives will largelydepend on information communication technologiesin the countries (figs 16.6 and 7).In terms of awareness creation among waterprofessionals, decision makers, politicians and thepublic at large, the World Day for Water which isobserved on every 22 nd day of March, proclaimedby the United Nations General Assembly in1992 is the most popular water event, especiallyin most African countries. The resolution callson all States to devote the Day, as appropriate inthe national context, to concrete activities such326