Experts in hydrology trained for using WEAP tool in disaggregation of SDG 6.4.2 in Rwanda
The demand for water is predicted to increase to meet the growing food demands, supply industries and sustain populations. This has led to a growing scarcity of freshwater resources in many parts of the world, including Rwanda.
In this context, FAO, as a partner of the UN-Water Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6 (IMI-SDG6), and a custodian of the monitoring of the SDG target 6.4 (By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity), has launched the disaggregation activity of SDG 6.4.2 (Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources) at the hydrological basin level for pilot countries Italy, Brazil, Algeria, Tunisia, and Rwanda.
The disaggregation activity of SDG 6.4.2 in Rwanda will be coordinated by the IMI-SDG6 project in close collaboration with the project Knowing Water Better (KnoWat) and will be carried out using WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning system), a user-friendly tool, developed by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).
A training on WEAP was organized in a hybrid way on 5 to 9 July 2022 in Rwanda. Representatives from the Rwanda Water Board (RWB), the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) and Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), who already have extensively adopted the previous version of the tool, took part in the training.
The objective of the training was to enhance the capacity of the participants in the use of the new WEAP plugin tool, so that it can then be applied in the calculation of SDG 6.4.2, including a scenario analysis of strategies for reducing water stress.
The implementation of the disaggregation of SDG indicator 6.4.2 at catchment level for the entire country of Rwanda will fill a gap in the information provided by the previous assessment of the indicator at the country level, by providing better understanding for practitioners and policy makers on water stress.