News & Announcements

The SADC Secretariat, through its Water Division, received a grant through the World Bank to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management in SADC Member States project until 30 June 2019. The SADC Secretariat delegated the implementation of the project to the SADC-GMI.  The project is financed through a US$8.20 million Grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and a US$2.00 million Grant from the multi donor trust fund Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) and it includes an amount of USD2.2million  to be given to institutions in the Member States to implement small level pilot infrastructure projects to support the development, improved groundwater utilization, management and protection of groundwater resources.

A Sub-Grant Manual was developed to facilitate the management of the sub-grant scheme to enhance inclusiveness, transparency and accountability and at the same time ensure that the funds are being expended efficiently. The Manual  documents the processes and the system within which the Sub-grants operates and facilitates the Processes to be undertaken to select, disburse, manage, monitor and evaluate the disbursed grants of the Sub-grant Scheme.

To ensure that all SADC Member State fully comprehend the content of the said manual, and their responsibilities towards the implementation of the grant, SADC-GMI recently embarked on visits to the Member States to launch the Sub-grant Manual. The campaign involves visiting all 15 SADC Member States and explaining the modalities of the Sub-grant Manual. Since the beginning of the campaign, the SADC-GMI team has visited the following countries:Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. During these visits, the SADC-GMI team also guides the Focal Persons and Focal Groups in identifying qualifying pilot projects within each country which could be funded through the available Sub-grant, and request the Member States to submit Concept Notes and proposals for the proposed projects.

Subsequent to the visits to the 11 Member States listed above, SADC-GMI has received Concept Notes from the followingMember States:

• Lesotho: Expansion of a National Groundwater Monitoring Network
• Mozambique: Transformation of a dispersed source in Water Supply System and Promotion of Hygiene and Sanitation in the beneficiary community
• Democratic Republic of Congo: Urgency Programme for North Ubangi Development Activities for the Drinking Water.
• Botswana: Small-scale, National level activities that demonstrate infrastructure solutions to groundwater challenges.
• Zimbabwe: Groundwater Monitoring in Harare, Zimbabwe.

By the end of March 2018, SADC-GMI team aims to have covered all SADC Member States and commence with the implementation of activities in countries that have submitted good Concept Notes and full proposals.