The Water Resource Commission (WRC), on Tuesday, organised its 4th Consultative Forum of Communities in the White Volta Sub-Basin, to equip key implementing partners with tools, towards strengthening them to monitor adaptive capacity of communities to climate change. The forum, which took place in Zebilla, in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region, addressed the issue of flooding in the White Volta Basin, progress of work on the project, and also draw a working plan for 2011, with a view to strengthening water governance in the region. The participants were mainly local community representatives from Ghana, Burkina Faso and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUNCN). Addressing the participants, the District Chief Executive, Mr Adam Moro Anaba noted that, government was mindful of the central and crucial role water plays in the attainment of the millennium development goals. Mr Anaba said to meet the MDG’S, there was the need for the development of water resources and improving human and ecosystem health through good sustainable practices. He said due to the increase of water usage in all key sectors, which could lead to competition and probably tension, there would be a need for stakeholders, such as IUNCN, to build and strengthen the upstream –downstream partnerships and mechanisms for information sharing, in order to limit suspicions over the management of the water resource of the Volta. The DCE said government would soon be providing water and sanitation facilities to 600,000 people in six regions of the country, including the Upper East. He commended the Swedish international development cooperation agency and the Dutch government for their continuous support in funding the water and environment sector in the sub-region. Source: GNA