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Your Excellencies (Protocol - List) I am delighted to welcome you all to this Pan-African Implementation and Partnership Conference on Water which is being held under the aegis of the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW). First, I wish to convey our profound appreciation to our hosts, the Government of Ethiopia and the Economic Commission for Africa, for their warm reception and hospitality since we arrived in Addis Ababa. We are also grateful to our development partners who have supported the holding and attendance of this conference. I commend UN-Water/Africa for being an effective prime mover and organizer of this unique conference. AMCOW is the forum of African Ministers responsible for water which is acting in the sprit of the New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).Our primary objective is to keep under constant review integrated water resource management policies, strategies and actions to address the challenges facing the continent in the areas of water and sanitation. In this way, we contribute to the attainment of NEPAD's goals of stronger regional cooperation, peace and security, poverty eradication and the economic development of Africans and Africa. The birth of AMCOW was the culmination of a wide-ranging consultative process over the past few years. The process engaged many of our cooperating partners both informally and in international forums. Since the launch of AMCOW on the 30th of April 2002 in Abuja, Nigeria by His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we have received support and pledges of support from some of our cooperating partners. The most notable has come from the European Union in the form of the Africa-European Union Strategic Partnership on Water Affairs and Sanitation, which was signed in Johannesburg in September 2003 during the World Summit for Sustainable Development. Appreciable progress is being made to finalize the 2004-2005 action plan for implementing the Partnership. At the home front, AMCOW has also been working with the African Development Bank on the establishment of an African Water Facility to be housed by the Bank and to provide the much-needed window for the expeditious financing of water projects in Africa. The Pan-African Implementation and Partnership Conference (PANAFCON) is organized to focus on Africa's requirements to fulfill our roles in the water and sanitation sector in respect of the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development on regional water initiatives. This is our opportunity to collectively support the numerous initiatives that are being developed. AMCOW has prepared a portfolio of water projects in collaboration with the Secretariat of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), as the core of a plan of action for achieving NEPAD water agenda, the Millennium Development Goals and the World Summit targets on water and sanitation in Africa. This will be formally presented and discussed with all our partners during the Ministerial sessions on Thursday and Friday. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, The action program developed during the first three days of this event will also be discussed and given the appropriate political direction by AMCOW for insuring effective implementation. The Ministerial sessions will provide a forum for discussion and negotiation between AMCOW and our partners. I wish to seize this opportunity to once again express our appreciation to our development partners who have so far supported our activities and further implore them to continue to increase their support for the African Water Sector. To all our development partners who are still considering offering their support, I believe that by Thursday, you would all be convinced that it would be worth your while to support Africa in tackling the challenges it faces towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and World Summit Target. Finally, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you warm greetings from His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman of NEPAD's Implementing Committee of Heads of States and Government. He expresses his deep appreciation for the goodwill of all our partners. In commending the achievements of our collective effort so far, President Olusegun Obasanjo has requested me to convey to you that we can count on his support on the outcome of this Conference and for any required advocacy that my be required. Your Excellencies, I wish us all fruitful deliberations. Thank you all and God bless. |
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