Ministers in charge of Water Affairs in the Nile Basin countries are due to meet on 14th July, 2016 at Protea Hotel, Entebbe - Uganda at the 24th Annual Nile Council of Ministers (Nile-COM) meeting.
The Ministers will deliberate on the status of the Nile cooperation and how to move it forward. They will also review progress made by the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) in the previous fiscal year, consider programs and projects as well as the work plan and budget for the coming year and provide strategic guidance.
The meeting will also witness a change in the top leadership of NBI, with the position of chairman of the Nile Council of Ministers moving from Tanzania to Uganda. Accordingly, the current chairman Hon. Eng. Gerson Lwenge Tanzania’s Minister of Water and Irrigation will hand over to Uganda’s Minister of Water and Environment. [Please note that Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni will appoint a new Cabinet soon].
The change in leadership is in keeping with the NBI tradition of rotating the position of chairman of the Nile-COM among the 10 Member States annually. The rotation follows the alphabetical order of the names of the countries.
Prior to the 24th Nile-COM meeting, members of the Nile-Technical Advisory Committee (Nile-TAC) will converge for the committee’s 46th meeting.
The Nile-TAC, which comprises technical representatives from NBI Member States oversees the work of NBI and offers technical support and advice to the Nile-COM on matters related to the cooperative management and development of the shared Nile Basin water resources. The Nile-TAC, NBI management, Representatives of Development Partners and the civil society will participate in 24th Nile-COM meeting as observers.