In July 2006, the East African Community (EAC) and the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) concluded an MoU on Cooperation in Sustainable Development of The Lake Victoria Basin. Under its Art. II, the two institutions agreed to cooperate in seven (7) areas: “Preparation and execution of studies, and promotion and development of projects and programmes, particularly in the fields of conservation and sustainable development of the Lake Victoria Basin.”
In that context, LVBC has partnered with NBI to prepare the 5 years project named Nile Cooperation for Climate Resilience Project (NCCR Project), which will commence in March 2021.
The NCCR Project development objective (PDO) is to improve mechanisms for cooperation on water resources management and development in the Nile Basin.
In alignment with the proposed PDO, the Project is organized around five main Thematic Areas:
· Thematic Area 1: Platform for cooperation
· Thematic Area 2: Flood and drought risk mitigation
· Thematic Area 3: Dam safety capacity building
· Thematic Area 4: Innovative information services for climate-resilient investment planning
· Thematic Area 5: Water quality investment planning and prioritization
LVBC will contribute to Thematic Area 5 and its main activities will include an assessment of extant water quality policies to identify opportunities for harmonization and preparation of a strategy and action plan in consultation with the Nile Equatorial Lake (NEL i.e. ) countries on implementation and uptake of coordinated water quality management practices in the Basin.
The NCCR Project has undergone three preparatory phases of World Bank projects: identification, preparation, and appraisal; and the project was Approved.
Implementation status:
1) The Grant Agreement was concluded between the World Bank and NBI
2) The Project Agreement was concluded between the World Bank and EAC/LVBC
3) The Subsidiary Agreement was concluded between NBI and LVBC; and
4) The Project Appraisal Document (PAD) produced.