Blue Deal program has officially kicked-off!
10 April 2019Twenty million people in forty catchment areas worldwide that are better protected against water and have access to sufficient, clean water. That is the ambitious goal of the Blue Deal that the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Infrastructure and Water Management and the 21 Dutch water authorities. During a festive opening on 8 April, the program was officially kicked-off and will run until 2030.
Hein Pieper, vice-chairman of the Dutch Water Authorities: “Because we are active for a long period in countries with similar water challenges are the Netherlands, we can aim for a strong and sustainable organization based on the best practices of the water authorities. And we will learn a lot ourselves.”
The 'movie stars' of the Blue Deal program are invited on stage
During the festive opening of the Blue Deal program on 8 April, a number of key figures of the Dutch water authorities, who have made a lot of effort to design program, were invited to go on stage and explain about their activities abroad.
Ewoud de Jong Posthumus (World Waternet) explains about his work in Burkina Faso
First round of partnerships commenced
The Blue Deal commenced with 11 partnerships in 9 countries. Later this year, 8 more partnerships will follow. Within these partnerships, we will work on flood protection and clean and sufficient water. Wastewater treatment plants are renovated in Mali, operation and maintenance plans are made for the dams of Burkina Faso, water allocation plans are designed for Colombia and better organization structures are set up in Rumania.
The Blue Deal movies
Three Blue Deal movies were made to illustrate what kind of activities the Blue Deal program will focus on, related to flood protection, clean water and sufficient water. Check out these videos, starring some of our World Waternet colleagues Koen Maathuis (Regional Manager West Afrika), Ewoud de Jong Posthumus (Project coordinator Burkina Faso) and Etienne Nacoulma (Project coordinator Burkina Faso), as well as many of our colleagues from other water Dutch and local water authorities.
()Video Clean Water (click on photo)
()Video Suffcient Water (click on photo)
()Video Flood Protection (click on photo)
World Waternet partnerships
Of these 11 partnerships, World Waternet is involved in 5, as leading partner or consortium partner. A quick overview:
Dji Don (Mali)
World Waternet, jointly with Waterschap Rijn en IJssel and Waterschap De Dommel, have a partnership with Malian water authority ANSEGEM. ANGESEM is an important partner as it is responsible for the operation and maintenance of 8 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Mali. The partnership will lead to an improved operational process and maintenance of the WWTPs as well as to more self-conscious, proud and professional workers in the organization of ANGESEM.
Ghana
Together with leading water authority partner Aa en Maas and consortium partners World Waternet, Noorderzijlvest WDODelta, Hunze en Aas and Brabantse Delta, this partnership with Water Resource Commission (WRC) and the River Basin Authorities of WRC in White Volta and Black Volta, will aim to establish a delta governance structure and develop a delta management plan for flood protection and management of the Volta delta resources. Moreover it will build capacity of the White and Black Volta Basin Board and develop a financing strategy for the management of water resources and sanitation towards improving water quality for various uses.
Volta Basin (Burkina Faso)
Together with the Dutch water authority Drents-Overijsselse Delta, World Waternet partnered up with the five water authorities of Burkina Faso: Agence de l’Eau du Mouhoun, Agence de l’Eau du Nakanbé, Agence de l’Eau du Gourma, Agence de l’Eau du Liptako and Agence de l’Eau des Cascades. Part of this partnership will be focusing on a transboundary approach with Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) within the Volta Basin. This project will morever focus on improving the management of water quality and water quantity to ensure enough and clean drinking water of the people in the Volta Basin in the future.
Abbay River (Ethiopia)
World Waternet, jointly with regional water authority Holland Noorderkwartier, local water authority Abbay Basin Authority, is working on an equitable and balanced water allocation in the Abbay Basin. Ethiopia has plenty of water, but unfortunately the water is unevenly distributed in terms of time and location. The population grows rapidly and migrates to cities. Due to this, the demand for water increases quickly. Within this partnership, an information system will be set up and the process of converting water data into valuable information will be professionalized. Also, a quality system for the water laboratory will be implemented. This partnership therefore contributes directly to a fair water distribution, professional information supply and a controllable water quality.
Awash River Basin (Ethiopia)
Leading partner of Dutch water authority Zuiderzeeland. This water authority, together with consortium partners World Waternet, Hunze en Aas, Noorderzijlvest and Vallei en Veluwe, collaborate with the Ethiopian river basin authority Awash Basin Authority. The projects aims to improve cooperation among the federal and regional governments. It will improve information management, such as collection, assessments, database management, data sharing and use of information flows.