Global Water Partnership-West Africa, Volta Basin Authority (VBA) and Water Resources Commission have held a workshop to review and validate communication plan and strategy for 2024-2030 of the Volta Basin Authority and its associated action plans. It aimed at reversing the ecosystem degradation in the Volta River Basin and developing sustainable water resources management. The workshop engaged national stakeholders across six countries which were Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Togo and Ghana to bring up innovative ideas and suggestions that would improve communication among the member states. Dr Mawuli Lumor, Head of Planning Water Resources, Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, said communication was key for effective collaboration and coordination in every sector, therefore, everyone must contribute in the review of Communication plan and strategy of the VBA. He said VBA launched a three year communication strategy and action plan for 2018- 2020, and during the period of implementation, some lessons and experiences were learnt, referencing that the workshop was to prepare a new strategy and action plan that would be used to implement communication strategy development. He highlighted some challenges involving the implementation of the previous communication strategy, explaining that, after preparation of the previous communication strategy, lack of funding and resources was a hindrance to its enactment. He urged all member states to bring up innovative ideas and suggestions to improve communication among VBA and to the public. Dr Didi Millogo, Deputy Executive Director, VBA, during his presentation said the objective was to amend and validate the strategic documents stemming from a recent technical workshop held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He said, the meeting would ensure the documents aligned with the current priorities of the VBA and its member states concerning natural resource management and address the numerous environmental, economic, climatic, social, and legislative challenges face d. He said it would require a well-coordinated and strategic approach to curtail the threats. According to the Deputy Executive Director, the workshop was a testament to their collective dedication ensuring that communication strategy was both robust and effective and its core objectives was to enhance the vision, strategic axes, objectives and target audiences of the strategy, making it more comprehensive and impactful. 'Your expertise and insights are crucial in refining and validating the documents that will guide our communication efforts for the next decade', he said. He urged media practitioners and communicators to equip and train themselves for capacity building to propagate good messages to the general public. Source: Ghana News Agency