The Nile Basin Discourse (NBD) joined the Government of Uganda and other stakeholders for community dialog for enhancement of community engagement in Nyimur-Aswa Multipurpose water project under implementation.  The meeting took place in Lamwo District, Uganda from 18th to 23rd March 2018. The Ugandan Ministry of Water convened a three day meeting with different stakeholders including NBD/UNDF to brainstorm and come up with strategies and communication plans for engaging the project...

  Building capacity of members of Burundi National Discourse Forum (BNDF) is seen as an option to boost their knowledge in mainstreaming gender in all of their action plans. From 16th to 20th November 2017  in Bujumbura, CIDEP (Centre d’appui aux Initiatives locale de Développement et d’Assistance aux Personnes Vulnérables) - a BNDF member in partnership with ACORD-BURUNDI organized a five day training workshop on gender mainstreaming for CIDEP members.

  Effects of climate change are real worldwide and communities are learning how to adapt to new styles of life. In Beni Territory, the Solidarity of Organizations of Women and Young Agricultural Producers (SOFEJEP) are coaching the local women and youth on adaptation to the climate change effect through handcraft making

  The Uganda National Discourse Forum’ affiliated member and a host for the Uganda Nile Discourse Forum, Center for Participatory Research and Development (CEPARD), was invited in January 2018 to participate in a learning visit to South Sudan during a midterm review of the ZOA Resilience Recovery for food and Nutrition Security (RRFNS).  This was a cross boarder engagement that brought many lessons to the Uganda family and also a sharing of best practices in Uganda to the South Sudan...

Recent news has indicated that some material has been imported to strengthen the body of the Merowe Dam.  The Merowe Dam, also known as the Hamdab Dam, is a large dam near Merowe Town in northern Sudan, about 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Khartoum and 40 kilometres (25 miles) downstream from the construction site at Hamdab. The Dam’s dimension makes it the largest contemporary hydropower project in Africa. It is situated on the River Nile, close to the 4th Cataract where the River...

  Prof. WANGARI MAATHAI was an icon whose legacy left prints in the minds of environmentalists and tree lovers worldwide. The quote of the internationally renown Kenyan environmental political activist and Nobel laureate, Wangari Maathai was the base of the campaign for tree planting in the City of Butembo, DR Congo in October 2017.

  Some fishermen in Nyanza and Western regions of Kenya use table tennis nets to do illegal fishing in Lake Victoria, an official has revealed. The chairman of Kenya Nile Basin Discourse Forum (KNDF) affiliated Save Fish in Lake Victoria Association; Joseph Odongo said the nets are exported to Uganda from Korea before being bought by fishermen from Kenya for fishing in the Lake. Mr. Odongo said most fishermen prefer the illegal table tennis nets because they can last for more than 20 years...

  The DR Congo National Discourse Forum (DRCNDF) participated at the National workshop that discussed on harmonization of Laws and Policies on fishing and aquaculture at lakes Edward and Albert. The workshop that was held from 1st to 3rd December 2017 in Goma was organized  by the regional Coordination of Lakes Eduward - Albert Fisheries – Phase two ( LEAF2).

  This was the theme of first Women’s Health Summit that took place from  11th  to 12th October, 2017 at Silver Springs Hotel Bugolobi, Kampala Uganda. The Summit attracted 260 participants drawn from individuals, groups, Health experts, community leaders, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs),

  Every year on the 27th of January Egypt celebrates the ratification of the law number 4 for the year 1994, and amended to the law number 9 for the year 2009. The day attended by environmental experts, Development experts, decision makers, and civil society organizations to discuss the environmental situation in Egypt; its needs, its priorities and the actions that has to be taken from all sectors of the country for effective cooperation and partnership for environmental protection. This...

  Reforestation, sustainable farming, and wetlands conservation could significantly slash down the amount of carbon emissions that humanity spews into the atmosphere through fossil fuel use. The Kenya National Discourse Forum (KNDF) Climate Change expert, Mr Peter Omeny, stressed on this during a Climate Change Workshop held at Cicada Hotel, Eldoret in December 2017.

Human-elephant conflicts mostly exist where human populations and wild life share resources outside protected areas. The negative impacts of these conflicts affect both humankind and wild life. The Mara river basin has been the key link between Serengeti Ecosystem in Tanzania and Massai-Mara ecosystem in Kenya connected through annual wildlife migration. However, for a long time the communities bordering

    As the ten Nile Riparian Countries were celebrating the 12th Regional Nile Day on 22nd February 2018, the DR Congo National Discourse Forum (DRCNDF) held one day conference in Butembo city that focused on management of Lake Edward.    The THEME of the 2018 Regional Nile Day was "The Nile: Shared River, Collective Action.” On the side of DR Congo National Discourse Form (DRCNDF) the day was dedicated to the subtheme entitled “Management of Lake Edward: Challenges and...

Uganda National Discourse Forum (UNDF) shares with and learns from the 1st Nile Basin Discourse Summit (NBDS). More than 50 members of the UNDF attended and participated in various sessions of the Nile Basin Discourse Summit 2017 held in Entebbe, Uganda from 29th - 30th November 2017.  Participants benefited from different presentations and discussions on various topics linked with the summit theme “Integration and Inclusion: New Ideas for collaboration in River Basins Management...

  The newly elected Kenya National Discourse Forum (KNDF) Executive Board members have vowed to extend support to the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) initiative of banning the use and manufacture of polythene bags. In their inaugural meeting held at Perch Hotel in Kisumu, presided over by the chairperson, Rev Joe Asila, and attended by the Vice-chairperson, Ms Anne Ombewa, KNDF Secretary General Mr Laban Korelach among others. The members resolved to support the...

  Association of Young Citizens of Lake Edward (AJRLE) in the Democratic Republic of Congo stood up for the protection of Virunga National Park and Lake Edward after an alarming decrease of fish production in the lake due to the illegal fishing by fishing communities. The association also invited the DRC National Discourse (DRC-NDF) to join a two-day awareness raising workshop conducted on 16th and 17th January 2018 in KYAVINYONGE near Lake Edward. The awareness raising workshop aimed at...

  NBDF Rwanda at the representation of the National Coordinator participated in the Environment and Sustainable Business Development Dialogue. The Dialogue organized by ARCOS and GIZ in collaboration with the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Rwanda Water and Forest Authority (RWFA) through its Water for Growth Rwanda (W4GR) Programme focused on “Leveraging adaptation opportunities, involving the private sector in...

  The National Discourse Forum - Rwanda (NDF- Rwanda) is a pioneer member to the regional Population Health Environment Network (PHE) that is jointly supported by Lake Victoria Basin Commission and the East African Community secretariat. PHE was conceived as a mechanism to bring a positive influence on population growth, health and environmental conservation patterns by enhancing resilience of communities, helping balance environmental protection, natural resource use and human well-being.

  The Kenya Nile Discourse Forum (KNDF) affiliated youth group, Eco2librium, based in Kakamega is using sugarcane leftovers to produce charcoal for domestic use. The company’s initiative came up with the idea of saving Kakamega Forest from destruction. Recycling sugarcane waste started two years ago where the company managed to produce over 800 bags of charcoal briquettes per month. The Company’s Director Christopher Amutabi, says that charcoal made from sugarcane produces less ash and dust...

The Kenya National Discourse Forum (KNDF) conveys its full support to the plan of establishing a sanitary towels factory that will benefit girls from poor families in Busia County, Kenya. The KNDF Vice Chairperson, Ms Anne Ombewa, said stakeholders in the education and health sectors are considering establishing a factory to manufacture sanitary towels to facilitate girls from poor families. The proposal of the factory dominated discussions at the Busia Menstrual Hygiene Workshop held on...

  The Rwanda National Discourse Forum (RNDF) has benefitted from a 30 months funding programme from the Nordic Climate Facility to implement the project entitled: “Promoting sustainable Agriculture in Changing Climate in Bugesera District.” The project is expected to reach 8000 community members as beneficiaries in 7 sectors of Bugesera District.  The project is jointly implemented by RNDF in the Sectors of Juru, Rilima, Rweru and Kamabuye of Bugesera District and Rwanda Environmental...

Water hyacinth and other aquatic weeds have invaded Lake Victoria and dams. The invasion has caused very serious economic problems to the communities living around the lake as their economic activities depend on the Lake/dams.  On Tanzanian side, the Socio-Economic Development Trust Fund (SEDTF) embarked on the project of water hyacinth removal and control at the landing beaches of Mwigobero and Nyarusurya of Musoma Municipal and various dams within Mara and nearby regions since 2014.  It...

  In September 2017, the Environmental Union Federation in Aswan in cooperation with the Egypt Nile Discourse Forum “EgNDF”, Idfu Youth Management and the association of society development in Ezbet Al-Masry organized a workshop on “climate change and development”.   The Workshop targeted the youth. Mr. Ahmed Abdel-Rahim, who represented the Ministry of Sports and Youth,

  Ssese Islands consists of 84 islands in the north-western section of Lake Victoria. Many of the islands are uninhabited except for a few fishermen so their forests and swamps are ideal habitats for birds. The wildlife on the islands includes hippos, crocodile, waterbuck, sitatunga antelope, chimpanzees and monkeys.  Distant at a nine-hour steamer trip from Port Bell or a 45-minute ferry trip from Bukakata is one of the richest areas for flora in Eastern Africa. The forest is also sanctuary...

The DR Congo National Discourse Forum (DRCNDF) held a consultation meeting with consultants on the trans-boundary Management of Lakes Edward and Albert Integrated Basin Management Plan. The plan is under the second phase of Lake Edward and Albert Fisheries (LEAF 2). The meeting took place on November 16, 2017, and aimed at collecting data on different actors, opportunities and challenges of the basin in order to elaborate the trans-boundary management of Lakes Edward and Albert Integrated...

A month after the plastic bags' ban took effect in Kenya; shoppers have continued to show unhappiness on how their goods should be packed. Most supermarkets have not adopted alternative means of packaging goods and have instead shifted the burden to consumers.  In a visit to some supermarkets in Eldoret City,

  Two organizations, which are members of the Uganda National Discourse Forum (UNDF), have joined the Ndejje University in the campaign for School Based Awareness on Environment & Solid Waste Management among Children & Youth in Kampala District, Uganda.  The campaign is called “Green Youths Initiative (GYI)”. The overall goal of the project is to promote youth’s engagement in maintaining green environment and waste management in Kampala District.

Horn of Africa Regional Environment Network (HoA-REN) launched a project on Adaptive Capacity of Khor El Teena Landscape to the Impacts of Climate Change during a workshop held on the 14th of November 2017 in El Obeid Town, North Kordofan state.   The HoA-REN Sudan Chapter to which the Sudan National Discourse Forum (SNDF)  is a member, is now in the process of implementing a project entitled: “Increasing the Adaptive Capacity of Khor El Teena Landscape to the Impacts of Climate Change” to be...

  The DR Congo National Discourse Forum (DRCNDF) members and partners are on course fighting Gender based violence in the country.  The call for prevention was made on 1st September 2017 during a one day meeting that attracted 210 participants most of them being Senior five and Senior six students, and youth drawn from Butembo.

  Lake Victoria Management Program in Kenya (LVEMP II Kenya) has undertaken Roof Water Harvesting in 20 Government institutions, the exercise of which could be described as completed and functional. This includes complete guttering of the roof surface area and installation of 10 thousand liters capacity plastic tanks in each of the 20 institutions. The Project has plans to add more institutions in the beneficiary list. Aldai Girls Secondary School located in Ibanja Sub location, Kaptumo North...