By Godwin Oritse

THE African Ministers Council on Water, AMCOW, has called on member-states to adopt and strengthen the web-based Pan-Africa water sector monitoring and reporting system recently launched in Stockholm.

Speaking at the ongoing training workshop on water and sanitation sector monitoring for member-states and stakeholders in Addis Ababa, its Executive Secretary, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, said the newly launched framework aspires to assist member-states.

Kanangire said: ”The web-based pan-African monitoring and reporting system represents AMCOW’s innovative response to addressing data challenge. This will, in the long run, result in a continent-wide credible monitoring and reporting system that will regularly provide critical and strategic information on the status of water development and its usage for various purposes.”

Commending the workshop as being timely, the African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, expressed optimism that the web-based monitoring and reporting system will significantly reduce the reporting requirements on already overburdened statistical departments across Africa.

The AUC Commissioner restated the need for Africa to stay on course towards realizing the target of the Africa Water Vision 2025 which envisages an Africa where there is an equitable and sustainable use of water resources for poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, and regional cooperation.