Par Kané Illa
Le samedi 18 juin dernier, le Centre de presse de la station régionale de l’ORTN (Office de Radiodiffusion et Télévision du Niger) de Dosso, à 150 kilomètres à l’est de Niamey, a servi de cadre à un atelier de formation des animateurs des radios communautaires des régions de Dosso, Niamey et Tillabéry sur les changements climatiques.


Cet atelier a été organisé par le Réseau des Journalistes pour un Environnement Sain (RJES), dans le cadre de son projet «Conscientiser les populations rurales du Niger sur les changements climatiques, à travers les radios communautaires», financé par l’Ambassade de France au Niger à travers le Fonds d’Appui à la Société Civile du Sud (FASCS).

Lors de la cérémonie d’ouverture de l’atelier, le Coordonnateur national du RJES, M. Illa Kané, a précisé que le projet en question vise à outiller les animateurs des radios communautaires sur les questions des changements climatiques pour qu’à leur tour ils puissent sensibiliser les populations rurales sur les effets néfastes de ces changements climatiques et les mesures d’adaptation qu’elles doivent prendre pour y faire face.

Le Coordonnateur du RJES a ajouté qu’en plus des ateliers, le projet comporte aussi l’élaboration, en français et dans les différentes langues nationales du Niger, des émissions de sensibilisation et des lexiques sur les changements climatiques qui seront mis à la disposition des radios communautaires pour leur diffusion. Dans son discours d’ouverture de l’atelier, le Gouverneur de la région de Dosso, M. Abdoulaye Issa, a déclaré qu’à l’instar des autres pays, dont ceux du tiers-monde, «le Niger subit malheureusement les effets néfastes des changements climatiques».

Il a poursuivi en rappelant que dans sa Contribution prévue déterminée au niveau nationale (CPDN), soumise à la Convention cadre des Nations Unies sur les changements climatiques (CCUNCC) à l’occasion de la 21ème Conférence des parties (COP) tenue à Paris (France) au mois de décembre dernier, «le Niger a retenu plusieurs actions d’atténuation et d’adaptation aux changements climatiques».

Parmi les actions d’atténuation, il a cité, entre autres, la séquestration du carbone ; l’aménagement durable des formations forestières ; l’amélioration du taux d’accès à l’électricité ; la réduction de la demande en bois énergie et la promotion des énergies renouvelables. S’agissant des actions d’adaptation, le Gouverneur Abdoulaye Issa a parlé, entre autres, de la restauration des terres agro-sylvo-pastorales ; de la régénération naturelle assistée ; de la fixation des dunes, l’aménagement des forêts naturelles ; de la plantation des haies vives et des espèces à usages multiples, ainsi que de la promotion de la foresterie privée.

Il a indiqué qu’au vu de toutes ses actions, le Niger «n’est pas resté les bras croisés face au phénomène des changements climatiques qui mobilise tous les pays du monde», même s’il a reconnu que «tous les efforts déjà accomplis et ceux à venir n’auront de véritables impacts que si les populations, notamment celles vivant en milieu rural et qui subissent directement les conséquences des changements climatiques, ne prennent véritablement conscience des dangers de ce phénomène».C’est pourquoi le Gouverneur Abdoulaye Issa a salué l’initiative du RJES qui, a-t-il expliqué, «est d’autant plus porteuse que les radios communautaires sont très proches des populations, parce qu’elles sont non seulement installés dans des villages, mais aussi et surtout parce qu’elles diffusent dans les langues du terroir».

La formation a été assurée par deux experts du Secrétariat Exécutif du Conseil National de l’Environnement pour un Développement Durable (CNEDD), assurant le point focal national des trois Conventions post Rio, dont celle sur les Changements climatiques. Il s’agit de M. Gousmane Moussa de la division changements climatiques du CNEDD et de Mme Issa Hamsatou Kaïlou, chargée de communication et des relations publiques du CNEDD. Le premier a fait une présentation d’ensemble sur les changements climatiques, tandis que la seconde a axé sa communication sur les techniques d’élaboration des émissions radiophoniques sur les changements climatiques.

DAR ES SALAAM (PAMACC News) - Nigeria's Minister of Water Resources, Eng. Suleiman Adamu has restated Federal Governments’ commitment towards increasing access to potable water for all Nigerians by 2030.


Adamu said this in an interview with PAMACC News at the recently concluded Africa water Week in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

He said that without universal access to safe water and sanitation, poverty and inequality cannot be eradicated in any country.

``We are working to ensure that all Nigerians have access to potable water by 2030 through urban water sector reform programme.”

``We realise that implementing the first and second urban water reform programmes have resulted in moderate success and improved piped water supply, if we put more efforts, we can achieve more.’’

Adamu said that the results from the Millennium Development Goals, showed that Nigeria was not able to meet its target due to sole reliance on budgetary allocation. He said Nigeria would soon launch the National Programme on Partnerships for Extending Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, aimed at meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 6) of universal access to water.

This programme, the minister said, was a partnership between the three tiers of government, the development partners and communities to commit funds and mobilise towards meeting the SDG 6 by 2030.

``We have also realised that one of the reasons why Nigeria failed to meet the MDGs was because we have been relying only on budgetary allocation from the three tiers of government.

``Due to dwindling resources, there is a huge challenge of scaling up; this is why we must include all other stakeholders.

He said Nigeria needed to take the lead on its issues, rather than relying also on development partners.

He said Nigeria would do everything possible to reform the water sector because of its centrality to health, agriculture, and others.

He said the ministry has created a data bank and census for water supply and sanitation for all water infrastructures in the country. Adamu emphasised the need for attitudinal change toward public utilities, saying Nigeria must begin to see the importance of paying for water consumed.

He stressed the role of political will and commitment from state actors and chief executives in funding water, saying they are the decision makers in parts of the country.

He said the ministry would continue in its advocacy to ensure that governments begin to allocate more funds for such projects.

The minister commended the World Bank and other development partners for funding water projects in the country and pledged government`s commitment to increasing fund allocation to water.

The 6th Africa Water Week aspires to lay the building blocks for Africa to achieve the SDG 6 as well as other inter-linking SDGs connected with water resources management. The week represents a political commitment at the highest level for creating platform to discuss and collectively seek solutions to Africa's water and sanitation challenges. 

By Isaiah Esipisu and Robert Muthami
KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) – African Civil Society Organisations, on the sidelines of the ongoing 27th African Union and Governments Summit in Kigali-Rwanda have launched an energy advocacy initiative dubbed the “The Big Shift” aimed at enhancing energy access among millions of African Energy poor.

The Initiative is in line with the African Coalition for Sustainable Energy and Access (ACSEA) launched during of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), and spearheaded by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).


“African States continue to rely heavily on fossil fuels that are becoming more and more expensive for governments and households as prices are skyrocketing,” said Benson Ireri, the Senior Policy Advisor at the Christian Aid.

He noted that 70 percent of the African population still does not have access to modern clean energy services that are efficient, reliable.

According to Mithika Mwenda, the Secretary General for PACJA, there are two global crises in the energy sector which often seem to have contradictory solutions. “The urgency of tackling climate change through a rapid global shift to low-carbon energy is one of the issues, and the secondly is the fact that more than two billion people continue to live in poverty because they have little or no access to clean and reliable energy,” he said.

And now, through a shift of investment away from centralized fossil fuel based energy towards diverse renewable energy sources, the CSOs believe that it is possible to deliver clean energy to developing countries, helping them overcome energy poverty in a way that will not lead to further devastating levels of global warming.

However,the CSO representatives said that, the shift will require a great political goodwill and a massive shift in energy investment strategies across the globe.

Over the next three years, the Big Shift campaign targets to build an international advocacy movement, supported by clear national and regional evidence from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. This is to ensure that the tens of trillions of dollars available for energy infrastructure projects are directed towards low-carbon renewable energy.This will allow the world’s poorest countries to pursue development agendas which will not have dangerous implications for the climate.

So far, the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) has launched an initiative known as Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), which aims to produce 300 gigawatts (GW) of electricity for the continent by 2030.

The bank also has another initiative known as‘The New Deal on Energy for Africa,’which charts the way for a transformative partnership on energy focuses on mobilizing support and funding for the initiative from five key areas.

This is among many other many energy deals targeting Africa, such as the Obama Power Africa Initiative, and the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4A).

The ‘Big Shift’ will therefore track the implementation of investment under these energy initiatives.

“We need other civil society organisations to join the Big Shift initiative and demand for investment in the energy sector to be moved from fossil fuel to renewable or low carbon energy,” said Mithika Mwenda.

The initiative was launched with support from PACJA, Christian Aid and Action for Environment and Sustainable Development Network (AESDN).