ABIDJAN HOSTS PIVOTAL WATER GOVERNANCE TALKS AS WEST AFRICA PREPARES FOR ITS FIRST-EVER REGIONAL WATER FORUM

Home to 28 shared river basins covering nearly 71 percent of its total land area, one of the highest levels of water interdependence anywhere in the world, West Africa opened a defining chapter in its water governance calendar in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, on 22 September 2026, as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) convened the 13th Ordinary Session of the Technical Experts Committee of the Permanent Framework for Coordination and Monitoring (PCMF) of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Over the following two days, national focal points and technical delegations from the fifteen West African States, transboundary basin organisations, technical and financial partners, and civil society representatives reviewed the implementation status of regional resolutions and formulated recommendations for the 6th Ordinary Session of the Ministerial Monitoring Committee.