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W
ater
E
ducation
and
I
nstitutional
D
evelopment
boundary basin organizations in the subregion.
RC-IRBM currently hosts the African Coordination
Unit of Hydrology for the Environment, Life and
Policy (HELP) and the Focal Point. Nigeria is envis-
aged to address these components of UNESCO
sustainable development promotions in West Africa
through collaborative research and capacity building.
The National Water Resources Capacity Building
Network (NWRCBNet) is a network of selected capacity
building institutions in Nigeria, established by NWRI
with support from the World Bank to respond to capac-
ity building demands in IWRM and the global pattern
for partnership in human resources development. The
objectives of NWRCBNet are to:
• ensure appropriate and sustainable manpower
development for water resources development and
management throughout the country
• strengthen institutions and human capacity through
partnerships for the successful implementation of
IWRM in Nigeria
• enhance cooperation among capacity building insti-
tutions (CBIs) in the country for IWRM
• facilitate research and demand-driven training and
education in IWRM among CBIs in Nigeria.
RC-IRBM will offer postgraduate diploma and Masters
degrees in collaboration with Nigerian universities
in IWRM; sanitation and hygiene promotion; water
quality management; and irrigation and drainage
technology. Other courses programmed to be offered
include dams and reservoir management; hydroge-
ology and drilling technology; river and watershed
hydraulics; and IWRM at the river basin level.
infrastructures are knowledge-driven and require education, train-
ing and retraining for effectiveness to deliver services and goods.
Water education programmes
Sub-Saharan Africa is in dire need of knowledgeable and skilled
personnel for sustainable development. The United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Leaders’ Forum Background Document (36 C/INFO.15) estimated
that 2.5 million engineers and technicians will be needed to improve
access to clean water and sanitation alone in sub-Saharan Africa,
aside from other subsectors of water resources development and
management. This translates to 500,000 skilled staff needed in
Nigeria to effectively and sustainably manage water and sanitation
facilities to meet the objectives of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).
The World Water Forum 2012 recommended 700 employees
for an urban water utility to serve 1 million inhabitants, with a
ratio of 15 per cent managerial staff, 30 per cent technological
staff and 55 per cent craftsmen. Water governance practition-
ers and river basin organizations within the subregion require
training and capacity building in integrated river basin manage-
ment. There is a need for such organizations to come together
to address issues relating to climate extremes; food and water
scarcity in the region; environmental degradation; transbound-
ary conflicts on water use and the like. The Regional Centre
for Integrated River Basin Management (RC-IRBM) now estab-
lished at NWRI in Kaduna is a training and research hub for the
advancement of human capacity for the sustainable development
and management of river basins – in the West African subregion
in particular, and the African continent in general. RC-IRBM also
aims to strengthen networks and cooperation between UNESCO
and its affiliates, the Lake Chad Basin Commission, the Niger
Basin Commission, the West African Network and other trans-
A RWSSC/JICA field demonstration of groundwater investigation techniques (left) and an institutional assessment study of a community water supply scheme in
Yobe State, north-eastern Nigeria (right)
Images: NWRI