OVERARCHING ELEMENTS

The FF A IS intended to provide an opportunity for the holistic development and management of the water resources at the basin level and to put into practice the principles of IWRM. This is possible if there is an enabling environment represented by good governance and if all actions conform to and respect certain common elements The elements requiring particular attention which have been singled out are; Governance, Policy, Institutions, Cooperation, Research & Development and Gender Mainstreaming.

GOVERNANCE

Recognizing the extent to which development and management of the water resources has detraded from the realization of greater good and become unresponsive to the concerns of the beneficiaries, the FFA, foresees a society in which all sections strive for sustainable development with the government facilitating the process through an appropriate policy framework and redefining its role from allocative planning to indicative planning and from direct intervention to providing appropriate market signals. For this purpose, the action proposed is:

• Secure the commitment of the political leadership and government line agencies to the objectives through a programme of awareness raising, Information dissemination and a system of rewards and punishment.

POLICY PRESCRIPTION & IMPLEMENTATION

To replace the disjointed policy prescriptions which have been imposed, the FFA proposes tile evolution of a comprehensive water policy with the active Involvement of all those who would be affected. For this purpose the strategies to be adopted include the fostering of water user groups and interacting with them, based on studies on the diverse policy elements. The actions proposed in the FFA are:

• The Federal Government, through the Planning Division, should initiate the process of Policy formulation, actively involving the Provincial Governments and other stakeholders.

• The process of policy formulation should be taken up conjunctively with a review of the existing laws so as to define the legal framework which should be put in place to give effect to the policy