EPSMO

OKACOM Secretariat is seeking assistance in developing an Access to Information Policy to guide Commission members and staff in sharing information generated by the Commission. Deadline for proposal submission in November 5th, 2010.

OKACOM is seeking proposals for a mid-term review of its three year plan.

An article in Air Botswana's Peolwane magazine features the work of the Okavango TDA.

Sustainable Management item in the SPORE newsletter, the magazine for agricultural and rural development in ACP countries, published by CTA.

Newsletter Article

Consultants Dr Philip Tortell and Mr Oliver Chapeyama are travelling in the southern African region for the month of June 2010, working on the terminal evaluation of the EPSMO Project.

A schedule for completion of the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA) and Strategic Action Programme (SAP) reports was agreed upon at the 16th OKACOM Meeting held in Gaborone from May 24th to 27th, 2010. Format of the draft TDA report was approved and final approval of the content of both reports is expected to be formalized by the end of July, coinciding with the wrapup of the EPSMO Project, and paving the way for implementation of the SAP.

OKACOM's EPSMO Project participated in a one day OKACOM - Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) Workshop in Livingstone, Zambia, 28 April 2010, to look at synergy within the OKACOM and KAZA initiatives and their respective work plans and to propose a strategy for accessing resources to implement activities considered essential to both initiatives.

January 15th 2010. Planning for use of water and natural resources in the Okavango River Basin - shared by Angola, Namibia and Botswana - will receive substantial support this year in the form of consolidated scientific evidence about the condition of the river and its surroundings. The Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission (OKACOM) Environmental Protection and Sustainable Management of the Okavango River Basin (EPSMO) Project, which has been gathering information about water flow, plants, animals and human activities in the river basin for the past two years, will finalise its transboundary diagnostic analysis (TDA) report in May. It will provide essential data to support decision making by the three countries. The Basin is unusual in that its waters and shores are relatively pristine, protected for many years by low human population pressures.