The Southern African Development Community Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI) in collaboration with the Government of Namibia will convene the 5th SADC Groundwater Conference from 16 November to 18 November 2022 in Windhoek.

“The conference seeks to provide a platform to discuss ways of enhancing the contribution of groundwater to sustainability and ecosystem services for socio-economic development and climate change adaptation,” SADC-GMI Communication and Knowledge Management Specialist, Thokozani Dlamini in a media statement issued Tuesday said.

This he said is important, especially in the SADC region which faces many challenges requiring multi-dimensional solutions to address the many deficiencies at the household level.

Dlamini said the main messages of the conference will contribute to the agenda of the Groundwater Summit in Paris in December 2022 and United Nations Water Conference in New York in March 2023.

“Highly esteemed keynote speakers and presenters will tackle groundwater’s critical role and provide robust scientific solutions in enhancing groundwater contribution to socio-economic development in the SADC region and beyond,” he stated.

SADC-GMI is a subsidiary structure of the SADC Secretariat launched in 2016 to raise the prominence of groundwater in national and regional policy, legal and regulatory frameworks.

It gets its mandate from the Regional Strategic Action Plan on integrated water resources 2016-2020.

Public Relations Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Jona Musheko confirmed that preparations for the event started a long time ago and that Government is supporting the SADC Secretariat.

Musheko said there is a need to elevate groundwater conversations, particularly its contribution to poverty alleviation and food security.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency