SADC Conducts Negotiation Skills and Conflict Management ...

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SADC Conducts Negotiation Skills and Conflict Management Training for Water. Managers. Twenty-two Senior Professionals from the Departments of Water ...
SADC Conducts Negotiation Skills and Conflict Management Training for Water Managers Twenty-two Senior Professionals from the Departments of Water Affairs, other Water related Departments and River Basin Organizations in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States attended a training on Negotiation Skills and Conflict Management in Transboundary Waters. The training was held from 4-13 September 2012, in Gaborone, Botswana. A total of 22 officials comprising 15 males and 7 females were empowered with skills on how to effectively handle Transboundary Water Management negotiations in order to promote cooperation and avoid conflict over cross-border waters. The training was organized by SADC Secretariat’s Directorate of Infrastructure and Services – Water Division with the support from the Government of Germany in delegated cooperation with the Governments of UK (UKAid) and Australia (AusAid) managed by the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ). The training provided appropriate up-to-date negotiation skills covering both theory and practice. The main focus of the training was specifically to develop a negotiation strategy that included key questions such as how to:  Translate rhetoric into an operational negotiation strategy;  Prepare for a negotiation, and set up a negotiating team;  Design a Negotiation Strategy; and  Conduct and close a negotiation. The learners also benefited from discussions on lessons learned from other national and international water negotiations, and how these experiences could be linked to national contexts, the river basin organizations, and for the SADC Region. Director of Water Resources in the Ministry of Water Development and Irrigation in Malawi Mrs. Modesta Kanjaye said the training was very useful. “We have learned a lot of techniques on how to prepare and conduct negotiations on transboundary water resource management issues”, she said. Mr. Moses Moehadu a Principal Hydrogiologist in the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources in Botswana said the training was an eye opener on what preparations one needed to undertake before participating in a negotiation. The participants expressed that the experiences gained from the training were highly relevant and applicable for problem-solving and dispute resolutions in the daily work and beyond. Water Policy and Strategy Expert at the SADC Secretariat Dr. Kenneth Msibi said that the training on Negotiation Skills is among the many courses “lined-up to enhance capacities of officials in the Member States to effectively manage water resources in the

region and subsequently contribute to regional, cooperation, integration and poverty reduction”. Officiating at the handing of certificate session, Director of Infrastructure and Services Directorate Mr. Remigious Makumbe congratulated all participants on behalf of the Executive Secretary of SADC, and further encouraged them to apply and share what they learnt with their colleagues in their respective countries. The training was conducted by Prof. Jon-Martin Trondalen from Campass Foundation, an international organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that provides strategic advisory services on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in international water resources. COMPASS is an independent, non-profit-making foundation based in Geneva,

Switzerland