11th March 2023: The Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB) in collaboration with the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination Unit (NELSAP-CU) held a dam safety consultation and awareness creation workshop for experts aimed at improving dam safety management in Rwanda.

The purpose of the meeting, which took place from 8th to 9^th March 2023 in Kigali, was to create awareness on the main hazards on dams, specifically focusing on hydrological hazards, geotechnical and earthquake hazards, to review the situation of dam safety in Rwanda, assess the role of regulatory units in dam safety risk management, dam safety requirements as well as the importance of Rwanda establishing committee on large dams.

The NELTAC members including Jacqueline Nyirakamana, the Transboundary Water Resources Cooperation Specialist at the Ministry of Environment of Rwanda and Remy Robert Duhuze Remy, the Water Monitoring and Quality Control Division Manager at the Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB) officially opened the meeting and reiterated the commitment of Rwanda government to dam safety issues.

Meanwhile, the event brought together all stakeholders working on dams including dam planners, dam owners, dam operators, regulators, dam safety technical experts, consultants and universities or research centres.

Several key agencies that took part in the meeting include Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB), Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), Rwanda Energy Group (REG), Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC), Rwanda Environmental Management Authority (REMA), University of Rwanda (UR)

They were also ministries such as Ministry of Environment (MoE), Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA), Ministry of Infrastructure(MININFRA), Rwanda Development Board (RDB), among others.

ABOUT THE DAM SAFETY CAPACITY BUILDING COMPONENT

This is a component under the Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience (NCCR), a project funded by the World Bank through the Cooperation in International Waters of Africa (CIWA).

The project is coordinated by NELSAP and will advance the development of a dam safety in the NEL region focused on strengthening the institutional environment for dam safety and improving the information base that is essential for the development and management of dams in the Nile Basin.

Under this program:

• Interested NEL-region member states will be supported in establishing national dam safety units, which will serve a regulatory function with regard to dam safety;
• Strengthen national dam safety units in the NEL region through hands-on training;
• Develop a geo-referenced inventory of dams in the Nile Basin that describes their key characteristics (including size, purpose, ownership, and so on); and
• Support the development of a tiered risk management framework for dams in the Nile Basin.