Ethiopia - Integrated Water Resources Management Programme - BASIN SCALE RESILIENCE INITIATIVE FOR ETHIOPIA - BASRINET

The initiative in question falls within the development framework of the Ethiopian Government outlined in the "10 Years Perspective Development Plan (2021-2030) and in the Ethiopian Home Grown Economic Reform (HGER) and more specifically supports the National Integrated Water Resources Management Program ( NIWRMP) of the Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE), implementing body of this initiative. It also aligns with programs to mitigate the impact of climate change on ecosystems and which encourage endogenous development models, integrating local communities in biodiversity management, through the creation of income-generating activities. The NIWRMP is the fundamental document for the management of the water resource in which the implementation methods of the various programs and sector policies are defined (AICS Addis Ababa has participated since May 2016 in the drafting of the document and has been Co-Chair since the same date of the Donor Government working group on Water Resources Management). It is also complementary to a wider group of initiatives that are implemented by the European Union and other member states (Netherlands, Denmark, Finland), within the framework of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI). The program is in harmony with the "Guidelines for an action of the Italian Cooperation in the water sector" (2015 and subsequent revisions), which underline the consistent and traditional commitment of Italy on the front both of the interventions aimed at guaranteeing the access to safe drinking water and sanitation and efforts to promote participatory management of water use in rural areas and water conservation. It is also consistent with the guidelines "Gender equality empowerment of women" which provides for the commitment to promote access to training for women and their active role in decision-making processes. This proposal arises from the experiences acquired by AICS, in collaboration with local institutions, through the implementation of the Program for Drought Resilience and Food Security, in 4 Woreda of the Afar Region and from a consolidated knowledge of the WASH sector and foreseen at national level by the Climate Resilient WASH approach which have guided the last few years of sector activity and the implementation of numerous initiatives aimed at increasing access to safe and continuous water in rural and urban §12 contexts. The integrated approach between WASH and pastoral support in the low lands reflects the real priorities of the communities and the deficit of access to services that is shared among all the "Arid and Semi - Arid Lands" (ASAL) areas of the country. The introduction of the strengthening of the Basin Authorities represents an element of strong innovation both in the work of the Italian Cooperation in the country and for Ethiopia itself, which has been aiming for some time to strengthen these territorial management bodies but without finding effective tools operations to achieve this result.