Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB) and 2030 Water Resources Group of the World Bank on 10^th December called for strong collaborations with different stakeholders to encourage the general public to be part of water resources protection and address existing water challenges.

The call was made during a two-day workshop, held at Lemigo Hotel, that featured public sectors, private sectors and civil societies on water resources management in Rwanda.

This workshop was intended for discussing a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the current water sector in order to make clear recommendations on how best challenges can be addressed building on the existing opportunities.

Christine Hitimana Niyotwambaza, the Deputy Director General of RWB highlighted the importance of the stakeholders’ joint efforts for better water resources management.

“The involvement of the public sectors, private sectors and civil society is becoming very crucial in terms of water resources management and development. It is high time to come up with a clear road map of collaboration for joint actions,”

 “Water resources are directly linked to almost all sectors of development of our country. In fact, water is inseparably tied to the socioeconomic growth of Rwanda, as it is estimated to support 78% of NST1 outcomes and SDGs,” Niyotambaza explained.

The approaches to strengthen the existing platform of Water Resources Thematic Working Group(WRTWG) and make it a true multi-stakeholder platform with clear commitment for joint actions were also among other key points for discussions.

The expected outputs of the workshop were current status documentation of the water sector which comprises of opportunities, challenges, threats, road map for strengthening the private sectors and civil societies to address water issues and dialogue with public institutions on water issues.