As part of the "Improving IWRM, knowledge-based management and governance of the Niger Basin and the Iullemeden-Taoudeni / Tanezrouft aquifer system – ITTAS" project, an OSS delegation, led by Mr Abdelkader Dodo, Coordinator of the OSS water programme, Mr Mohamedou Sy, expert hydrogeologist and Mr Néjib Ben Seoud, chartered accountant, took part in a consultation workshop in Niamey on January 13-14, 2020, with a view to strengthening the coordination and cooperation between the six agencies, and setting up a project steering committee.
This meeting, co-organized by the United Nations Environment Program, the OSPAR Commission, the Mediterranean Action Plan, the World Conservation Monitoring Center and the United Nations Development Program - Global Environment Finance aims to strengthen the coordination and cooperation between the six agencies and officially set up the steering committee responsible for coordinating the project execution.
The ITTAS project, whose activities started in May 2019 and will continue until 2023, involves two implementing agencies (United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations Program for Environment (UNEP), as well as four executing agencies including the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), the Niger Basin Authority (NBA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UNESCO. It affects 11 countries sharing the water resource, namely : Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger et Nigeria