KIGALI - Ministers in charge of water resources from the Nile Basin countries, Friday signed ‘The Kigali Declaration’ on climate change that calls for intensified commitment against effects of climate change.

The declaration was signed at the end of a three-day Nile Basin Development Forum that drew ministers, lawmakers, researchers and water experts.

"The outcomes of the Kigali Ministerial Declaration on Climate Change will be tabled before the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) scheduled for next month in Durban, South Africa,” said the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Stanislas Kamanzi.

"During the UNFCCC summit, we want to make our position on climate change very clear to the international community”.

According to the declaration, the ministers vowed to identify financial needs for climate change adaptation, mobilize financial resources from various international adaptation funds for water and energy infrastructure as part of Low Carbon Growth Plans.

"We call upon the international donors’ community, bilateral and multilateral financing institutions and friends of the Nile to extend technical and financial support to our collective efforts to build multi-tiered institutional and technical capacity for joint adaptation projects,” The statement reads in part.

Kamanzi said the just concluded Nile Basin Development meeting addressed issues of regional food security and infrastructure development.

"We agreed to raise funds for addressing these issues and strengthen participatory and interpreted approaches in planning and decision-making,” he said.

During the meeting, experts acknowledged the potential impacts of climate change in the region and called for the protection of ecosystems.

The NBDF meeting was the third in a series following those held in Ethiopia and Egypt. The Kigali meeting drew about 200 delegates.

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