Joseph Ngome was elected the Nile Basin Discourse secretary general on Sunday.
He will hold office for three years.
Ngome was elected alongside Verdiane Nyiramana (chairperson), Peter Mawa (vice chairperson), and Agnes Namusiitwa (treasurer).
Nile Basin Discourse is a network of civil society organisations established in 2003 with the support of World Bank and other development partners to strengthen civil society participation in Nile Basin development processes, projects, programs and policies.
Ngome, who is the Kenya Nile Discourse Forum chairperson, has overseen several developments during his tenure.
Speaking after his win, he thanked members from the 10 countries for believing in him.
“I thank you all for giving me the opportunity to be part of the secretariat, we shall work together,” Ngome said.
Since the previous general assembly that was held four years ago, Kenya has seen huge steps in the discourse.
KNDF Secretary Laban Arupe noted that despite Covid-19 challenges they were able to co-ordinate through many activities.
This includes continuous communication with the NBD secretariat and tree planting for environmental conservation.
“The cross-border Mara river catchment protection, conservation measures, and dialogue will ensure future climate resilience,” Arupe said.
A stakeholder forum was also held to deal with the Sio- Malaba- Malakisi this year.
“A women’s training was held successfully on water and climate change resilience,” he added.
On youth’s inclusivity, a training programme for climate change is underway.
During the Glasgow conference, President Uhuru Kenyatta told world leaders that Kenya will be a steadfast champion of the interests of African countries.
It will also represent the entire Global South on climate change at the UN Security Council (UNSC).
Uhuru noted that the phenomenon was "escalating and complicating new and old conflicts throughout the world".
The President urged world leaders to take "bold mitigation and adaptation measures".
He added that recent scientific evidence was pointing to a catastrophe.
During the seventh annual devolution conference, Uhuru also noted that the aim is to strengthen sub-national governments for them to act on climate change.
Uhuru said this can be done through the development of a more robust and focused execution of mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Climate change poses an existential threat to Kenya even though our role in precipitating the problem is negligible," Kenyatta said.
NBD is a network of Civil Society organizations established in 2003 with the support of the World Bank and other development partners.
It seeks to strengthen civil society participation in Nile Basin development processes, projects, programs, and policies.
NBD has evolved into an independent network of over 600 member organizations throughout the Nile Basin.
Member organisations are local and national CSOs/NGOs working on a range of issues relevant to Nile cooperation.
These include environmental conservation, agriculture, energy, gender equity, livelihoods, poverty reduction, and others.
The CSOs/NGOs are members of chapters at the national level referred to as Nile Discourse Forums (NDFs) established in each of the eleven riparian states.
Edited by CM
