Rwandas Minister of Lands, Environment, Forestry, Water and Natural Resources and Member of the Nile Council of Ministers Ambassador Stanislas Kamanzi has called upon media practitioners to promote trans-boundary water resources management and sustainable development in general, noting that the benefits of cooperation among the Nile basin countries are clear and that over the past ten years, the Nile Basin countries, through the Nile Basin Initiative, have accomplished a great deal through increased cooperation.

He said this in a speech read for him by Mr. Remy Mugunga - Member of the Nile Technical Advisory Committee, while opening an NBI-sponsored media workshop attended by members of the Nile Media Network (NMN) on November 17th, 2010 at Lemigo Hotel in Kigali Rwanda. He noted NBI’s investment in people, institutions and infrastructure, as laying the foundation for sustained cooperation in sharing the Nile. In addition to that, he observed that River Nile’s fresh water resources are vital to the support of livelihoods, food security and power generation as well as growing domestic and industrial needs. However, he pointed out that Africa’s water resources are under pressure from increasing demand, competing uses and the threat of climate change.

NBI Executive Director Dr. Wael Khairy, in a speech read by Mr. Antoine Sendama, Regional Coordinator of NELSAP-CU, said that keeping stakeholders and all ordinary citizens informed of and involved in the work and developments within NBI including the trans-boundary projects, is part of NBI mandate and that NBI recognises the media’s role in disseminating information generated by various players and in influencing policy makers. He called upon journalists to ensure their stories are accurate and objective, noting that it is those (accuracy and objectivity) that separate them from other disseminators of information, such as advertisers and propagandists.

Participants of the workshop also got an opportunity to visit the proposed site of the planned Transboundary Rusumo hydropower dam over the Kagera River on the border between Rwanda and Tanzania.

The Journalists expressed appreciation at the opportunity of training and to NBD, they showed much interest in what is happening at the National Discourse Forums level. They also asked NBI to help rejuvinate some of their (NMN) stalled programmes like Sponsorship to go to NBI project areas to get information for their news and feature items.