June 2009- The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) received a € 2 million grant to establish a regional, collaborative framework for effective water supply and sanitation planning and management to enable SADC member states achieve the water supply and sanitation targets of the MDGs by 2015 and the Southern African Water Vision. The framework consists of tools, measures and approaches to overcome the identified constraints to effective sector performance in the SADC states.

Photo courtesy of Nasa

June 2009- The Government of Gabon received a €1,6 million grant to improve the quality of life in the river basins of Gué-Gué, Lowé-IAE and Terre Nouvelle by putting in place the necessary conditions for the realization of the storm water drainage facilities which in turn will help reduce incidences of waterborne diseases, flooding and poverty in general. Through this project, the Government will have the necessary documents for mobilizing the funds required to implement the infrastructure investments: feasibility study reports, detailed designs and tender documents.

May 2009 - The Government of Swaziland received a € 910,000 grant to carry out the preparatory work necessary for the implementation of the Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project (LUSIP)-Phase II. This entails the preparation of the feasibility studies, detailed designs and tender documents required for the implementation of the LUSIP II infrastructure investments, as well as the mobilisation of funds required for the implementation of LUSIP II infrastructure investments.

April 2009 – ECOLINK, a local South African NGO, received a € 374,000 grant to implement a project designed to assist communities in the Ehlanzeni District of Mpumalanga Province of South Africa to improve output from their communal food gardens through improved collection and management of surface run-off from precipitation and better management of soil moisture.

January 2009 – The Volta Basin Authority received a €1.2 million grant to enable the VBA and the National Hydrologic Services (NHS) of member states to deliver reliable hydrological information services to users and perform effective trans-boundary IWRM.

January 2009 - The Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Gambie (OMVG) received €1.6 million grant to reinforce its capacities to implement sustainable management of shared water resources based on an IWRM approach. This entails building OMVG’s capacities through staff training, the rehabilitation and extension of its hydrological observation network, the establishment of a cooperation framework for the management of water resources. The project will also bring support for the development of irrigation in the basin area located in Guinea-Bissau.

May 2013 – The Training Research and Networking for Development (TREND) a local NGO, received a € 1.1 million grant to finance the construction of a waste treatment plant that can produce about 500 tons of fertilizer per year, and can generate about 580,000 kWh per year of electricity from the biogas produced from the process.

January 2009 - The Government of Togo received €1.6 million grant to develop and operationalize a national water information system. This entails improving and intensifying infrastructure providing data and information on water at the Ministry of Water Resources and related organisations, maintaining and upgrading the existing hydrological and climatic observation networks, building the capacity of the staff in water data and information management, and ensuring better water sector information coordination.

January 2009 - The Government of Ethiopia received a €2 million grant to promote and pilot the use of solar and wind energy for water pumping in rural areas of Ethiopia, and initiate development of a long-term investment in these technologies under the Universal Access Programme (UAP) where they are appropriate and most suitable. The project is expected to result in an increased and sustained supply of water at lower financial, economic, environmental and social costs than with fossil fuel powered pumping systems for rural water supply in Ethiopia.

April 2013 – The Government of Senegal received a € 1.3 million grant to increase access to latrines for the poor, establish an affordable waste collection and transportation throughout the city, establish a private and / or community -driven waste treatment and reuse service, and to supply Casamance and the four main urban centers of the area with documents to seek funding for bankable projects. The project will help reduce CO2 emissions and improve the management of water resources to reduce water stress.

Photo courtesy of Nasa