At the beginning of October, a delegation from the Dutch water authority Wetterskip Fryslân traveled to Mozambique to visit the Blue Deal partnership there.
A visit to the mayor of Beira
Luzette Kroon was one of the members of this delegation. Kroon is board member International Affairs at the Association of Dutch Water Authorities. She is also president of the Blue Deal.
Since 2019, 6 Dutch water authorities have been working on strengthening the 3 ARAs (water authorities in Mozambique) and the sanitation/drainage department SASB of the port city of Beira. They do this to improve the financial management and operational water management of these organizations in the areas of safe, clean and sufficient water. Cross-cutting themes such as nature conservation, biodiversity, social inclusion and climate change play an important role in this. The second phase of this collaboration will start in 2023. This will last until 2030.
Enriching experience
“During my visit to Mozambique, where Wetterskip Fryslân is the lead party for the Blue Deal partnership, I gained an experience that was enormously enriching,” Kroon explains. “Going on site has given me a much clearer picture of the scope of the activities and the commitment required to realize them.”
She continues: “In addition, the attention from board members helps our employees to get in touch with members of the governments in the country more easily. I am struck by the great enthusiasm of the Mozambicans to start the work themselves. At the same time, I have found that we can also learn a lot from our Blue Deal partnerships when it comes to dealing with drought.”
On the 10th of October, a delegation from the Blue Deal partnership in Burkina Faso, consisting of representatives from the Nakanbé Water Agency, the ministry of Water, and FASO KOOM travelled to the Netherlands for a one-week work visit. The goal of their visit? Knowledge exchange on water management and strengthening the collaboration within the partnership.
The delegation was welcomed by the consortium partners water authority Drents Overijsselse Delta, water authority Hunze en Aa’s and World Waternet/Amstel, Gooi en Vecht.
Understanding the Dutch context
During the stay, experiences were shared about the history of water management and the water challenges nowadays for the Netherlands and Burkina Faso. Not only by presentations, but also by site visits.
To show how the Netherlands deals with floods, the delegation visited the IJsseldelta, where they went to one of the locations of the Room of the River project (‘Ruimte voor de Rivier’) near the river the IJssel, and other areas where flood protection measures were taken.
To get an understanding of different ways how surface water can be treated for drinking water, a visit was paid to the Amsterdamse Waterleidingsduinen.
Mutual learning
For mutual learning and understanding in the Blue Deal partnership, it was very valuable to welcome the Burkinabe delegation to the Netherlands. Visiting the different locations together gave the Burkinabe delegation better insights in getting to understand the Dutch context and perspectives in water management. It also inspired to continue the Blue Deal work in Burkina Faso. For the partnership in particular, the visit contributed to a strengthening of the partnership, trust, energy and mutual learning for Blue Deal Phase 2.
The water challenges in Southern Africa are immense. Floodings, droughts; water and climate related disasters always seem to be just around the corner. On November 25, the Blue Deal partnerships of eSwatini, Mozambique and South Africa joined forces in the first joint regional Blue Deal exchange meeting in Johannesburg. Here they discussed the issues regarding data management of water data.
Similar challenges
The 3 countries face similar challenges: how to ensure financial stability? How can data sharing within and between countries be improved? And many technical hurdles, for example how to integrate the now often still separate data systems? As Ntombikayise Dhladhla, participant of the Blue Deal Young Expert Programme, explained: “In eSwatini, the main issues are reliability of the data, which leads to limited data sharing. We are working in silos.”
Lessons learnt
During the day the Blue Deal teams of the 3 countries looked back on Phase 1 of the Blue Deal. Experiences and lessons learnt were shared. Looking to the future, people shared their ideas on which topics the partnerships can work together. Ideas included working together on a central database, organizing shared lab facilities and connecting existing databases.
Different perspectives
Ambassador Han Peters mentioned the importance of long-term equal partnerships, which are the basis for the Blue Deal: “No one country can solve the problems of today on their own. You need different perspectives, you need people from different backgrounds if you want to get to the greatest solutions.” And with this first regional meeting of 3 Blue Deal partnerships, a strong start has been made.
On November 24, the Blue Deal Conference for the South Africa Partnership was held in Johannesburg. David Mahlobo, the South African Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, and Dutch and South African employees of the various projects were present. During the conference, the partner agreement for the Blue Deal Phase 2, which runs from 2023 to 2030, was signed.
David Mahlobo, Deputy Minister Water and Sanitation, Risimati Mathye, Deputy Director-General Water Services Management and Hein Pieper, Chairman of the Blue Deal South Africa, sign the Partnership Agreement.
Clean and sufficient water for 2.5 million people in South Africa by 2030: that is the goal of the South Africa Blue Deal partnership. South African and Dutch water experts work together to improve water quality in major rivers. The partnership runs from 2018 to 2030.
Take responsibility
Hein Pieper, chairman of the Blue Deal for South Africa, was there: “We have to go faster, in this second phase. Climate change makes that necessary. And I’m not just talking about institutional changes. Projects succeed because people take responsibility. They act on the basis of underlying values and feel ownership of a project. Here in South Africa, it is about the immense importance of clean water for the basic needs of 2.5 million people.”
Objective: improving the water quality of the major rivers
The 4 projects of Phase 1 (2018-2022) focused on improving the water quality of major rivers such as the Vaal River, the Crocodile River and the Msunduzi River. A large part of this period was during the corona crisis during which only virtual meetings were possible. The Dutch and South African water experts who worked together learned a lot during this period. They kept in touch, organized virtual missions and shared knowledge through webinars. For example, about combating the water hyacinth, innovation in purification, community involvement and river management.
Reflection and looking forward
The Blue Deal conference was an important moment to reflect on the process of recent years, the successes and the challenges. Not everything went smoothly during the corona years. Political changes created different relationships and priorities. It is difficult to deal with this in an exclusively digital environment.
That’s why it’s important to keep meeting each other. That opportunity was there during the conference. More than 140 participants from various cooperation partners attended. Not only to look back, but especially to look forward to Phase 2, while using the experience of previous years. And with an increasing understanding of how we can share it with people facing similar challenges. Not only in South Africa, but also beyond.
Concrete examples
That may all sound a bit abstract. Concrete examples? In Blesbokspruit, the local population uses the removed water hyacinth, a proliferating exotic that impedes the flow of water, as raw material for useful products. In the Vredefort Dome project, the local population is encouraged by the Blue Deal to keep the river free of waste. Blue Deal members also performed remote, virtual inspections of treatment plants in the Crocodile project. And in the Msunduzi project, the Blue Deal shared vital data between various organizations.
Curious? An impression of the projects at the end of Phase 1 of the Blue Deal South Africa can be viewed in the video.
New project added
We will enthusiastically continue with the 4 existing Blue Deal projects. And there will be a new project: Theewaterskloof. There we will work on the waste (water) problem in a township in an urban area that is expanding rapidly.a
In September 2022 the Blue Deal team had the chance to visit South-Africa again for the Msunduzi River Corridor Improvement programme. The goal for the week was to meet with stakeholders, and to discuss the first phase of the programme and how to proceed together in the second phase. After several fruitful discussions with stakeholders, it resulted in an action plan to investigate how to move forward together.
Ministerial Task Team
There was also time to look at achievements of the first phase of the programme. The delegation went to the Darvill sewer outfall pipes. One of the pipes has been restored as an interim solution. The Blue Deal partnership was used as a platform to elevate the serious situation of the Darvill sewer outfall pipes. This resulted in the establishment of a Ministerial Task Team. There is now a medium-term solution in place.
Water Flag
The delegation also met the local industries to obtain consensus on the pilot of the Water Flag in Phase 2 of the Blue Deal. The idea is to encourage private sector businesses and industries to engage in self-declaration and self-disclosure of key metrics on water use to obtain a ‘Water Flag’. This flag will be placed over their site on a ‘live’ Google Earth Map. The concept was shared and has been positively receive.
From 28 till 30 September 2022 the Biennial Conference of WISA, the Water Institute of Southern Africa, took place in Sandton-Johannesburg, South Africa. At the conference there was a presentation about the Blue Deal.
Hans Waals, chief executive of Blue Deal South Africa, speaks at the WISA conference.
During the WISA conference delegations from countries all over the southern part of Africa come together to share their challenges and insights. Both Dutch and South African members of the Blue Deal partnership in South Africa visited the conference.
Looking backward and forward
In a 2-hour session the Blue Deal programme was presented: the Dutch-South African partnership, the successes and the lessons learnt of the first phase (2019-2022) and the conclusions drawn at the end of the first phase. One insight came back in all presentations: the challenges in the projects are not so much technical as organisational, e.g. a lot can be gained by more cooperation and institutional alignment.
What happpens after 2030?
Afterwards there was a vivid discussion with the visitors of the workshop. Amongst other issues the question was raised what is going to happen after the end of the Blue Deal Programme in 2030. How to ensure that the results are sustainable? Visitors brought forward the idea that, by that time, South Africa should have built its own Blue Deal programme. With the goal to create partnerships with several other countries to further improve the water management. That would truly be a longlasting outcome of the Blue Deal programme.
The South African Blue Deal partnership's Vredefort Dome project has been quite successful in the past year. A Blue Deal delegation from the Netherlands visited this project in September and found out that most agreements from the previous visit had been fulfilled.
The South African project manager Dr. Konanani Khorommbi and the Executive Mayor of Ngwathe Victoria De Beer-Mthombeni leading a cleaning campaign.
The April 2022 work visit had agreed on improvements to the Waste Water Treatment Work at Parys. Pumps would be replaced and generators repaired, so during periods of load shedding (without power) there would be fewer spills of sewage water.
Mayor of Ngwathe calls for action, action, action
The Mayor of the municipality Ngwathe, Victoria De Beer-Mthombeni, was present during a clean-up campaign organised as part of the World Clean Up Day. More than 20 large rubbish bags of dirt were collected in 2 hours. A community awareness event was also organised in which the mayor gave an impassioned speech that something really needs to be done and that the municipality and community need to do it together. That really helps in making progress. Her approach is: “No more plans, but action, action, action.” The slogan for the campaign is: “A clean river starts with me, TODAY!” Blue Deal plays an important and visible role in this campaign as a brand name and driving force.
Vredefort Dome at the WISA conference
From 28 tot 30 September 2022 the Biennial Conference of WISA, the Water Institute of Southern Africa, took place in Sandton, South Africa. In a 2-hour session the Blue Deal programme was presented, including all the projects in South Africa. Progress on the Vredefort Dome project in phase 1 was also discussed. In addition, attention was paid to the preparation of Phase 2 of this project. An approach was chosen in which technical aspects, stakeholder involvement and monitoring (and communication) are leading. For each subject, 1 main objective will be described in Phase 2 and each objective will have a maximum of 5 key actions. The intention is that all further activities will be clustered under these objectives.
T+S+M = clean river
People often ask for a short description of the approach. The Blue Deal partnership chose to present it in a mathematical equation: Technical + Stakeholder + Monitoring = Clean River. This was presented during the WISA conference. It was discussed after the presentations. People said that they were missing the F of finance in the equation. The Blue Deal does not bring in large investments, but it can support to use the available money differently. For example by extending the technical lifespan by organising good operation and maintenance.
Why do we have a Blue Deal and what can we achieve? Hein Pieper elaborates on how the Blue Deal helps 20 million people worldwide to gain access to clean and sufficient water, and to protect them against flooding. Pieper is chairman of the Dutch water authority Rijn en IJssel, president of the European Union of Water Management Associations (EUWMA) and cofounder of the Blue Deal.
“Water is the most important commodity we have on earth,” Pieper says. “Even in a delta like The Netherlands, water can be scarce these days. In other parts of the world, water and water pollution have caused problems for much longer. To be able to tackle these problems we need maintenance, training, monitoring, and so on. But unfortunately, there is no money for that. Dutch Water Authorities wants to change that. That’s why they joined forces with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to work with other organizations around the world in the Blue Deal programme.”
The goal of the Blue Deal is to help 20 million people worldwide to gain access to clean and sufficient water, and to protect them against flooding. Pieper: “Blue Deal tries to bring this about by entering into partnerships with local organizations in fifteen countries. What is unique, is that these are not one-off but long-term projects. The Dutch share their knowledge of management and governance, which our partners can use to their advantage. But we learn from them as well, about drought for example. Reciprocity and respect for each other are very important.”
To be able to meet the Blue Deal deadline of 2030 the Dutch Water Authorities and the other promoters have decided to increase their joint financial commitment to the programme to 10 million euros per year. International cooperation like the Blue Deal is important, Pieper says. “It provides us with new insights and makes us more appealing to new employees. Colleagues working for the Blue Deal go home enriched. They have learned to approach familiar problems in an entirely different context and that gives them a new perspective.”
At the beginning of September, Nettie Aarnink, member of the executive board at the Dutch water authority Vechtstromen, visited eSwatini. The most important part of this work visit was the visit to "the honorable Minister Mabuza" of the Ministry of Natural Resources & Energy. During this visit they made agreements about the role and input of the national government for the next phase of the Blue Deal partnership.
Agreements have been made about the personnel and financial input that the national government will provide in eSwatini. Agreements have also been made to support one of the most important processes for the further decentralization of water management in Eswatini. The visit and speeches of Mabuza and Aarnink received a lot attention on television and in the newspapers.
Gender workshop
Another important part of this work visit was to contribute to the gender workshop for the Joint River Basin Authorities (JRBA) and the main partner organizations of the JRBA. As in the Netherlands, there are fewer women than men active in the water sector in eSwatini. But there is an important difference: much more than in the Netherlands, the work of the water authorities has a direct influence on the lives and futures of girls and women.
Often it is the girls who have to fetch water for the family. A great deal of time is lost when the distance between the water well and the home is increased. For girls, this is at the expense of school time, sometimes girls are no longer able to go to school. In addition, it is often the women who grow the crops for their own family. Good water management is of vital importance to them. Hence the focus on gender. Aarnink contributed to this by sharing her experiences in the Netherlands and in other African countries and by talking to the board members of the JRBA.
UNDP, European Union delegation and WaterAid
Finally, visits were also made to the UNDP, the European Union delegation in eSwatini and to WaterAid. These organizations are already involved and the Blue Deal would like to connect them (even) more to the activities in eSwatini. All in all, a very useful work visit that will have an impact on the cooperation within the Blue Deal partnership.
Last June and July, representatives of Dutch Water Authorities travelled to Colombia. Here they worked in 5 regions on participatory monitoring, wastewater treatment, crisis management and other themes. In workshops with regional partners, input was collected for the plan for Phase 2 of the Blue Deal, from 2023 to 2030.
This work visit was part of the Blue Deal programme InspirAgua. Within this programme plenty of knowledge and expertise in water management is exchanged between Dutch and Colombian water professionals. The work visit was concluded with a presentation by InspirAgua with explanations from directors of the organizations involved during Acodal, the network conference for (international) cooperation in the Colombian water sector.
At the beginning of October, InspirAgua will receive Colombian colleagues in the Netherlands during a technical work visit on water governance in Colombia. Using the three-layer model, the development of a governance network in Colombia will be discussed, taking into account its purpose, structure, scope and actors.
During the visit, attention will be paid to drawing up recommendations for national policy in relation to integrated management of water resources ‘PNGIRH’ in Colombia and the new national development plan. Wageningen University & Research is organizing a reflection workshop on work experience in an international context and knowledge development in water management.
Want to stay informed about the activities within InspirAgua? Follow the program on LinkedIn.
