NEPAD is clearly a ground-breaking development for Africa. It is a development with great prospects for large socio-economic dividends. Failure is not an option for the realization of these dividends. However, their realization is contingent upon the type of attention that will be paid to water in the NEPAD agenda. IWRM is seen as the key to ensuring that water plays its proper role in the attainment of the NEPAD agenda. In recognition of this, an African position on water has been defined. In addition, a number of priority actions have been identified. It is hoped that for each priority item, a task force would be established at Africa level to formulate a program of action, including the critical work of sharing the vision more widely amongst water professionals and their counterparts in economic planning and other sectors. The program of action should lead to the formulation of policies and strategies to be promoted for each topic. If these modest goals could be achieved, Africa would have good cause to be hopeful for the future.
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