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As part of the KnoWat project, a workshop on the AQUASTAT platform and the monitoring of the indicators of target 6.4 (6.4.1 and 6.4.2) of SDG 6 was held from 22 to 25 June 2021.  

The workshop took place in the premises of the Directorate of Water Resources Management and Planning (DGPRE) in Senegal and brought together thirty participants from different Senegalese institutions: DGPRE agents, technical officers of ministries and organizations that produce statistics on water.

The event was aimed to build the capacities of the officers on the use of the AQUASTAT platform and the monitoring of the indicators of target 6.4 of SDG 6. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the workshop took place both physically and by videoconference.

The event was inaugurated by Mr Benjamin Kiersch, Project Coordinator of KnoWat, and Mr Niokhor Ndour, Director of DGPRE. 

The presentations were made by the Officers of FAO's Land and Water Division: Mr Riccardo Biancalani, Ms Lucie Chocholata, Ms Patricias Mejias Moreno and Mr Ben Hamouda. Mr Lamine Samaké, National Coordinator of the KnoWat project in Senegal, Mr Bocar Abdallah Sall, Head of the Hydrology Division of DGPRE, and Mr Lamine Diop, Professor and Researcher at the Gaston Berger University, also participated in the event.   

At the end of the four-day training, the participants made the following recommendations, among others: 

• put in place a national strategy to extend the collection of data beyond the projects that support the process,
• explore the possibility of disaggregating the calculation of the “value-added” variable, in collaboration with FAO,
• pay particular attention to the assessment of water resources (surface and groundwater) to update the reference data,
• set up a regulatory authority/agency to better manage the resource,
• develop local capacity building programs,
• provide local technical services with the means to facilitate regular data collection; 
• strengthen the involvement of inter-state organizations such as the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS), the Organization for the Development of the Gambia River (OMVG), etc.