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Training Young Professionals in Groundwater Data Collection and Management

IGRAC/IGS/SADC-GMI/GEF-IBRD SADC Groundwater Project

By IW:LEARN

December 6^th, 2018

The Southern African Development Community Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI) is implementing the Sustainable Groundwater Management in SADC Member States project. The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Multi Donor Trust Fund in Cooperation in International Water in Africa (CIWA) through the World Bank. As part of the Sustainable Groundwater Management in SADC Member States Project, SADC-GMI is currently implementing a number of initiatives, activities and projects.

One of the projects is the “Capacity building for groundwater data collection and management in SADC Member States” (SADC-GWDataCoM project). The project commenced in September 2017 and will finish in January 2019. It focuses on capacity building and training at the level of ministries, departments and agencies responsible for groundwater in the respective Member States.

The project aims to capacitate Member States on groundwater data collection and information management, and provide guidelines to ensure the sustainable management of groundwater. The project started with a literature review of groundwater data collection and management in the Member States, followed by country visits to Member States to interview representatives of the main departments at national level responsible for groundwater management. This was done in order to establish what the prevailing challenges are in relation to data collection and management.

Data collected during country visits was synthesised into a regional gap analysis report which subsequently informed the development of the SADC-wide framework on data collection and management which is in the draft phase. The overarching objective of the framework is to provide relevant guidance to all Member States, irrespective of the level of development, budget and capacity, on groundwater data collection and management.

Currently the quality of groundwater data and metadata is limited, and in most cases not readily accessible. Moreover, there are also wide discrepancies between Member States in terms of data density, data management, data exchange practices and policies, etc. This situation seriously hampers analyses in a transboundary context or at international scale (e.g. SADC-wide). This project attempts to address these challenges through the SADC-wide framework on groundwater data collection and management.

Discussion sessions. Credits: Thokozani Dlamini

Handing over of certificates. Credits: SADC

Capacitating Young Professionals in Data Collection and Management

As part of the project, two young professionals from each SADC Member State and two students from the University of the Free State (Institute for Groundwater Studies) were engaged to undergo a training program on groundwater data collection and management. The young professionals were given assignments to complete under the guidance of International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC), Institute for Groundwater Studies (IGS) and their country focal person. The young professionals were trained on the various aspects of groundwater data collection, management and reporting . The training program also served to expose the young professionals to international cooperation as well as building a network of groundwater professionals.

The training program comprised of a series of home-based assignments done under the supervision of the country focal persons and remotely by IGRAC and IGS resource persons. The first training was held on 29 to 31 May 2018 in Bloemfontein, South Africa where the young professionals presented the progress of their first assignment to the project team and solicited feedback. The most recent and second training workshop was held From 19 to 22 November 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa where the same group of young professionals presented the progress of their 2ndassignment.

This project is making a remarkable impact and contribution towards data collection and management in the SADC region.

Training Young Professionals in Groundwater Data Collection and Management

For more information on this project, please contact Brighton Munyai or visit the project website.

Footnotes

Header: Participants from SADC Member States who participated in the workshop on groundwater data collection and management. Credits: Thokozani Dlamini

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FootNotes

Header: Participants from SADC Member States who participated in the workshop on groundwater data collection and management. Credits: Thokozani Dlamini