A new INBO project on testing performance indicators of integrated water resources management

The International Network of Basin Organisations (INBO) and its regional branch in Africa (the African Network of BO – ANBO) proposed to develop and field-test Performance Indicators adapted to the design and monitoring of the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) principles in African Transboundary basins.

Performance Indicators are now frequently used for water services management, and some experiences were launched in specific location to adopt Performance Indicators in the frame of IWRM.

However, there is still a need to design shared procedures and tools adapted to the African context.

This is why INBO and ANBO, with the support of OIEau and Ecologic, aim to develop an appropriate method for developing a common understanding based on Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to build the capacity of basin organizations; these KPI will help among other :

    * Basin Committees to define appropriate objectives, thanks to the check-list side of the PI ;
    * BO management to design (River or Lake) Basin Management Plans (BMP), and the associated Programmes of Measures (PoM), by providing guidelines and benchmarking ;
    * Public participation to be active, by highlighting what is expected in terms of involvement ;
    * BO stakeholders to monitor the BMP / PoM process ;
    * Donors to assess the quality of work and the use of their funds.

In Africa, BOs at different development stages can be found, but for the most part they are at the initial or emerging stages. It is then necessary to go step-by-step, to apply KPI to selected pilot basins, to analyse collected data, and to share the related knowledge to other BOs through a learning process.

This approach is conceptualised for the long-term. The proposed activities for the 3-year project are to pave the way for the use of KPI. The aim is to demonstrate how they can be useful, and to secure a sustainable scheme for the future, to strengthen the implementation capacity of RBOs.