Shiferaw Jarsso
Minister of Water Resources
Honorable Guests
Respected Participants
Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the Ministry of Water Resources and on my own behalf it gives me a great pleasure to be here with you at the opening of this important workshop on ‘Integrated water and land management research and capacity building priorities for Ethiopia’.
As it is widely known, Ethiopia is blessed with huge water resources potential but due to adverse problems, the country couldn’t benefit from these rich resources. The major factors constraining the use of our water resources include:
To tackle the challenges in a systematic way, the Ministry of Water Resources has started the water sector reform some seven years back. After a rigorous consultative process involving all stakeholders from the grassroots level, the Ministry of Water Resources has completed the preparation of a visionary water management policy, water sector strategy and water sector development programme. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has played a key role in supporting these programmes.
In addition, the Ministry of Water Resources has completed carrying out Integrated River Basin Master Plan Studies in five of the twelve basins. The basic objective of the Master Plan Studies carried out by the Ministry have been to ‘prepare an investment plan which would contribute to sustainable development and poverty reduction through optimum possible adverse environmental impacts taking water resources at the centre of development’. Conducting such studies would no doubt provide sufficient information on the optimum use of our water resources.
In addition to the commitment of the Government of Ethiopia to provide limited support, high expectations are foreseen from our external partners to help the implementation of the recommendations of the studies.
The Ministry of Water Resources is in the process of establishing the Basin Authority through the necessary legal arrangements, considering this as an excellent tool useful for implementing the master plan studies.
Moreover, positive developments are being observed on the use of the Nile water for the benefit of all the riparian countries.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Capacity building has been given top priority by the Government of Ethiopia. Without building our capacity, it would be difficult to implement any programme on a sustainable manner. Coupled with building capacity, undertaking of research activities becomes extremely important to share experiences from others, analyse our situation and come up with valuable recommendations.
We realise that this is an important instrument to develop our sector, and to this effect, the Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission together with the Ministry of Water Resources have conducted a thorough study and research in the water sector. We will soon start implementing the programme. The Ministry of Water resources has also newly organised a Research and Development department to better address the related problems of our sector.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Before I conclude my remarks, I would like to take this opportunity to forward my sincere appreciation to the staff of the International Water Management Institute and the International Livestock Research Institute, who have devoted their time and shown keen interest to make this workshop a reality. I also hope that this spirit of co-operation would continue in a sustainable manner. I would also like to assure you that the support of the Ministry of Water Resources would definitely continue in the years ahead.
Furthermore, I would also like to thank all other institutions and colleagues who have greatly contributed to the success of this workshop.
Finally, wishing you a happy discussion time I declare the workshop officially open.
I thank you!