The UNEP-China-Africa Cooperation Programme on Environment is a multi-million dollar south-south cooperation partnership has implemented six ground-breaking projects. The projects show-cases innovations in water resource planning water-saving techniques early-warning drought alerts, addressing common challenges such as food safety, public health, energy crisis and technologies for combating desertification.
In the media briefing that happened on 22, July, 2014, at the UN compound, experts from China’s Ministry of Science and Technology UNEP and Kenya’s top research institutions and government agencies shared key findings from the pan-regional programme.
Among the many findings and insights that were shared were the national master plan for national water resources planning and rain water harvesting for Kenya and Uganda, established an artificial wetland for waste water treatment in Kisumu, Kenya, capacity development and institutional building and new low-cost technologies which can reduce the cost of providing safe drinking water to rural areas by 50%. Dr Mohamed Abdel-Monem, Regional Team Leader of Ecosystem Management, Regional Office for Africa also added about Phase one of the program that has four projects that were implemented in Africa focusing on enhancing the capacity of monitoring the shared water resources of L. Tanganyika , re-use of waste water for forests, drought and promoting rainwater harvesting in Africa.
Mr. Chen Linhao, Deputy Director General, Department Of International Cooperation said the programme enlisted the expertise of 20 Chinese academic institutions that have collaborated with dozens of African universities and research institutions across 16 African countries bordering the Nile, Lake Tanganyika and the Sahara Desert in projects involving water planning, utilization and protection, drought warning and adaptation, dry land water saving agriculture, as well as desert control and also to demonstrate the positive impacts of new low-cost technologies training and experimentation on sustainable ecosystem management and climate change adaptation.
On the same note he highlighted that around 1000 African participants benefited from the training courses and workshops and that academic scholarships were awarded to African students to study in China in various technical areas.
Mr. Chen Linhao also gave a brief presentation on demonstrations done in some African countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, L. Tanganyika Basin, Morocco and Zambia that have so far benefited through the programme in terms of desertification control, drinking water treatment, Water-saving agriculture, Rainwater harvesting, Water quality monitoring and drought adaptation. The demonstrations were carried out by institutions like Gansu Desert Control Research Institute, Tongji University, Gansu Research Institute for Water Conservancy, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou University and Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology.
In the end of the Media briefing, Mr. Phillip Gichuki, Managing Director, Nairobi Water and Sewage Company signed a M.O.U with the Mr. Liu Yun, Chair holder of UNESCO, Beijing, in recognition of common interests shared. Also as an expression of the desire to expand and strengthen the relationships between the two Institutions, Nairobi City Water and Sewage Company and UNESCO Chair in South-south Cooperation for science and Technology to Address the Climate Change. In the M.O.U, The Chair holder Institution of Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) agreed to enter into the program of academic exchange from July, 22, 2014 to July, 22, 2015. Mr. Phillip Gichuki, Managing Director, Nairobi Water and Sewage Company was presented with a Water quality monitoring facility.
