5th SADC Groundwater Conference to commence on Wednesday in Windhoek
The Southern African Development Community Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI) in collaboration with Namibia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform), and other regional and international partners will convene the 5th SADC Groundwater Conference, under the theme “Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible for Socio-Economic Development”.
The conference is slated for 16 to 18 November at Windhoek Country Club Resort, with a virtual option for those who cannot be at the venue.
The Conference seeks to provide a platform to discuss ways of enhancing the contribution of Groundwater to sustainability and ecosystem services for socio-economic development and climate change adaptation. This is important, especially in the SADC region which faces many challenges requiring multi-dimensional solutions to address the many deficiencies at the household level.
This supreme event intends to deliberate on groundwater’s role in providing and sustaining ecosystem services, groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) contribution to livelihoods, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and enhancing access to water by strengthening the governance frameworks.
The main messages of the conference will contribute to the agenda of the Groundwater Summit to be held in Paris in December 2022 and the UN-Water Conference in New York in March 2023.
Highly esteemed Keynote speakers and presenters will tackle groundwater’s critical role and provide robust scientific solutions in enhancing groundwater contribution to socio-economic development in the SADC region and beyond.
Eng. James Sauramba, SADC-GMI Executive Director said groundwater is key for socio-economic development, especially in the face of climate change which hurts water and food security, not only in the SADC region but globally.
Sauramba emphasized the need to elevate groundwater conversations, particularly its contribution to poverty alleviation and food security.
“SADC protocols and national policies and legislation don’t talk much about operationalizing mechanisms to recognize the significance of groundwater upon which about 70% of the population in the SADC region relies for their primary livelihood activities for resilience,” he concluded.
