The Lake Kivu and Rusizi/Ruzizi River Basin Authority (ABAKIR), with the technical support of GIZ and in partnership with the Mayor of Goma held a workshop from Thursday 25 to Friday 26 August 2022 on “the management of biodiversity and ecosystems of the Lake Kivu Basin of the city of Goma”. These meetings took place in the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu, in the East of the DRC. Its objective was to strengthen the capacities of the actors of the environment, water, hygiene and sanitation sectors on the management of integrated water resources “IWRM” in the watershed of the city of Goma.
The participatory approach was envisaged to achieve the desired results. To achieve this, there were panel presentations, work in the World Café technique and presentation of work reports and discussions. A total of 46 participants from various political and administrative structures and non-governmental organizations were present at the workshop. The agenda developed led to the results and the validation of the provincial strategy of the protection of the Lake Kivu watershed during the workshop.
The workshop was opened with a word of welcome by the Mayor of the city of Goma, who took the opportunity to call on the citizens to take more responsibility in the management of the waters of Lake Kivu, the only water resource available to the city. This was followed by speeches by ABAKIR and GIZ, representing the project “Support to the Integrated Management of Water Resources of Lake Kivu and the Ruzizi River”.
In total, six presentations of eminent scientists grouped around four themes were developed, namely: Environmental overview and biodiversity around Lake Kivu (case of the city of Goma); Natural disasters in the face of the sustainable management of Lake Kivu; Statement and commitment of stakeholders and the Vision for the future of the city of Goma. After each presentation of a scientist, there was a question-and-answer session. And in the afternoon, there was work in the World Café format and a presentation in the plenary.
After two days of intense work, a roadmap in the short, medium and long term was produced with recommendations to the City Council of Goma and the population of this volcanic and tourist city. In addition, the participants noted that the proper safeguarding of the Lake Kivu basin, a transboundary water basin between the DRC and Rwanda aims at “the exchange of information and data; the integrated and sustainable management of transboundary waters; the implementation of joint programs and projects and multilateral support for water management; and finally, capacity building of all stakeholders acting in this sector”. They refer to the law number 15/026, on water management, of 31 December 2015. In addition, they noted that the urban environment of the city of Goma is the material result of the concrete articulation on this agglomeration of the modes of production and consumption of the common goods that are for example the ground, water and air, but also mobility. It is a generator of all kinds of nuisances including the emission of greenhouse gases mainly related to urban transport and the multitudes of human impacts as well as natural, as there are two volcanoes near the tourist city of Goma.
After several speeches of the closing ceremony which was organized by the State protocol of the Mayor of Goma, closing words were delivered by other groups, starting with the representative of the fishermen, followed by that of the dean of the Chiefs of Districts of Goma, and the facilitation/organizer team (GIZ and ABAKIR). The final closing was delivered by the representative of the Mayor of the city of Goma, the Urban Chief of the Environment. It is with these words that he closed the meeting of Goma, followed by the national anthem sung by the State Protocol.
This story was first Published by the WEF Nexus Platform Website
Story by Manassé Lwimo, GIZ, Bukavu