Maseru, 22 September 2022
ReNOKA participates in Stockholm World Water Week 2022
A delegation of ReNOKA representatives joined global water and sanitation changemakers at World Water Week 2022 in Stockholm from 23 August – 1 September. Delegates gathered to discuss and explore sustainable solutions to restoring, conserving and protecting water.
World Water Week is the leading conference on global water issues. It commenced with an online programme from 23 – 25 August and continued with on-site events in Stockholm in the following week. This year’s theme was “Seeing the Unseen, the Value of Water”.
The delegates took part in online exhibitions and physical closed meetings to share experiences with the global audience and strengthen national, regional, and international linkages. ReNOKA’s intention in attending was to institutionalise partnerships developing from these engagements with the potential to contribute to integrated catchment management (ICM) implementation in Lesotho, lead to socio-economic development and improve adaptation to climate change.
The ReNOKA online exhibition showcased methodologies promoting ICM and measures already taken to manage degradation in the Orange-Senqu River Basin.
His Majesty King Letsie III was a special guest at the High-Level Panel meeting on water investments. He delivered a keynote message, speaking about ICM approaches in Lesotho and calling on the world leaders to invest more in preserving water.
“Water as we all know is a great substance of life, it is a vital compound which mankind and all living things depend on for their existence in livelihoods. It is therefore critical that world leaders should make a concerted effort to preserve water and mitigate all factors-man made, natural or otherwise, that jeopardise water and its resources,”
“Investments and partnerships are key to the implementation of water and land management programmes. We have to increase our efforts to mobilise sufficient funds that will be dedicated to the protection of ecosystems, biodiversity and the protection of the environment,” His Majesty King Letsie III said.
The ReNOKA delegation comprised the Deputy Coordinator from the ICM Coordination Unit, ‘Mats’olo Migwi and two Catchment Managers, ‘Matsoere Sebutsoe and Phomolo Khonthu from Maletsunayne and Hlotse respectively.
They were supported by the OKACOM Executive Secretary Phera Ramoeli, Global Water Partnership Southern Africa’s (GWPSA) country Programme Manager, Dr Koetlisi Koetlisi and Keitumetse Tsubane, a GIZ Technical Expert.
Reflecting on this global event, Migwi said the conference provided an interactive platform for ReNOKA to showcase its initiatives in ICM in Lesotho and learn from other organisations and institutions.
“It was an important experience for us. We were able to share ideas and experiences with our counterparts who are undertaking similar work. Interactions with other organisations gave us a sense of whether we are heading in the right direction, and these engagements were very fruitful, particularly the parallel session,” she said.
The most important learnings included:
- Investments in ecosystem protection are critical, and lessons from ReNOKA show clear returns on such investments
- Innovative financing mechanisms are critical for sustainability and scale. The CORB Fund is a great example of planning for long-term funding to realise tangible benefits.
- Integrative and inclusive investment projects planned at the transboundary and regional levels are a good way forward in terms of responding to challenges in the region and leaving no one behind
Other thematic sessions included: Innovative community/watershed collaboration for successful Water Replenishment, which focused on the principles deemed relevant to consider when engaging private institutions for project funding in watershed management.
Another session emphasised valuing Women and Youth in the water sector. Youth involvement in the water sector continues to be likened to tokenism. Involvement and engagement of youth should come from a point of responsibility, rather than a set of box ticking exercises.
