Nile Basin Discourse, LVRLAC partner to conserve environment

Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) has signed a collaborative  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with  Lake Victoria Region Local Authorities Cooperation (LVRLAC) with an aim of conserving the environment and the community surrounding Lake Victoria region.  
While signing the MOU at NBD offices in Entebbe on Wednesday, Eng Sylvester Anthony Matemu, the Regional Manager of the Nile Basin Discourse said: "Our mandate encourages collaboration and partnership with diverse stakeholders. This positioning fosters synergies  bringing together the Nile Basin Discourse and its partners to collectively address pressing challenges in the Nile Basin region, including climate change."
He added that it's important to understand the practices and work with local people to strengthen and improve on the practices where necessary.
"We need partnerships that are bigger, bolder and better. Therefore,  the MoU will enable the two institutions to collaborate in the major areas of support, including multisectoral approaches, investments, advocacy, capacity building, coordination, desk monitoring and evaluation of the water resource management in the lake Victoria basin, which is part of the Nile basin in the larger picture," he said.
Mr Godfrey Wasswa, the Secretary General  of LVRLAC, said: "Our focus is to ensure that we use our lake sustainably focusing on climate change resilience  and looking at policy implementation at a local level and we believe that this partnership will take us for bringing the local people closer and help them understand what  they are supposed to do when we come together to join our hands."

The Executive Director of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), Dr Florence Grace Adongo, said  this is a milestone gained in positive progress and a struggle to make sure that there is sustainable management and development of the water resources of the Nile.
“ I know that in the implementation of the memorandum of understandings, there are always problems, but let’s see how together we can demonstrate it with actions on the ground that can benefit the community. As NBI we remain open to all of you to share information, knowledge, and opportunities to manage the common resource together," she said. 
Ms Agnes Namusiitwa, Regional Treasurer of NBD and also National Chairperson of NBDN-Uganda said: “I know that we share a lot of resources, which benefit from Lake Victoria and Nile waters and there are some challenges, but we also have a lot of opportunities and benefits which we think that once they are well tapped, a lot of people will benefit within their livelihoods and be developed.”