The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in collaboration with Uganda’s Ministry of Water and Environment are convening a 2-day validation workshop in Uganda’s capital Kampala on Knowledge Management and Capacity Building on Ground Water.

The validation workshop is to review Uganda’s needs assessment report that was done in 2017 on Knowledge Management on Ground Water and Capacity Building on Ground Water and Drought Resilience in Uganda, with the objective to assess the status of knowledgebase, challenges and opportunities for enhancing groundwater management in IGAD region.

Dr Callist Tindimugaya, Commissioner at Ministry of Water and Environment and Member of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for Uganda in his opening remarks noted that the contributions and recommendations by the experts will enrich, update and inform the report so that it is ready for utilization by the experts, academia and other stakeholders.

Dr Tindimugaya also thanked IGAD for embarking on regional assessments to inform the utilization and management of the region’s groundwater resources for drought resilience in view of the increased impacts of climate change. The assessments are also key in ensuring that groundwater meets the demands for various socio- economic activities, and maintain existing ecosystems without compromising groundwater availability and quality.

The participants of the workshop called for information and knowledge sharing, enhanced capacity and engagement of key stakeholders such as the private sector, civil society organisations, academia and other relevant experts, in research and update of various groundwater management and development methodologies in order to inform policy among other things.

The workshop is being attended by groundwater experts from the Ministry of Water and Environment, private sector and academia.

The meeting is being supported by the World Bank under the IGAD Horn of Africa – Ground Water Initiative (IGAD HOAGWI).