Mono Basin Authority (MBA)
Mis à jour : 16/03/2015
On 30 December 2014, the Heads of State and Government of Benin and Togo signed the draft Convention on the Statutes of the Mono River which crosses both countries, creating the Mono Basin Authority (MBA).
Alongside the Water Resources Coordination Unit of ECOWAS and with the support of the Rhone Mediterranean Corsica Water Agency (AERMC), IOWater and pS-Eau have been helping this gradual process of MBA establishment since September 2014.
The objectives are twofold:
- To assist in the successful implementation of Integrated Basin Management;
- To encourage the development of cooperation on water and sanitation projects supported by the French Authorities in the whole basin.
A first pilot year allowed approaching the central government, local authorities and civil society partners to identify a set of needs and actions to be taken, both at transboundary level (MBA) and at national level in Togo and Benin: drafting of a Master Plan for Water Development and Management (SDAGE), establishment and structuring of Basin Committees and Local Water Committees, thinking about the establishment of funding mechanisms, strengthening the Information Systems, building of drinking water and sanitation infrastructure and support to the governance of services.
The originality of the approach is based on the relationship between the writing of planning documents, the programming and financing of short-term actions and the development of cooperation projects on IWRM and access to drinking water supply and sanitation services.
The participation in July 2015 of the Water Resources Directors of Togo and Benin in two meetings of exchanges and information in France took place under this framework.