The General Assembly of the International Network of Basin Organizations took place in Dakar in Senegal from 21 to 23 January 2010, at the invitation of the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS).

The meeting was held under the auspices of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Senegal and honored with the effective presence of the President of the Senate, the President of the National Assembly, the President of the Economic and Social Council, the Prime Minister and the Minister for Energy of the Republic of Senegal, as well as of the Minister for Energy and Water of the Republic of Mali, the Minister for Hydraulics and Sanitation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the Vice-Mayor of Dakar and the High-Commissioner of OMVS.

The Assembly gathered 268 delegates, representing the Member Organizations, water administrations or observers from 41 Countries, as well as the representatives of several interested multilateral organizations and International Commissions or Authorities for transboundary basins. Central Asia was represented by Sokolov V.I., Deputy Director, SIC ICWC, Uzbekistan.

The main outcomes of General Assembly of INBO were presented by the participants in the Declaration of Dakar, in which there are the following aspects to attract special attention:

Integrated and sound water resources management is more than ever an unquestionable priority when this scarce resource is already a limiting factor for sustainable development in many countries of the world. Unprecedented mobilization is essential for humanity to win the water battle and prepare the future. Organizing this management on a basin scale is an effective solution which deserves to be developed, fostered and supported.

INBO intends to actively contribute to the efforts for adapting to the effects of climate change:

• by supporting programs for identification of the threats, allowing anticipation, thanks, for example, to the development of integrated information systems,
• by allowing the populations to be better warned and informed on the evolutions and
• behaviors that are likely to overcome the difficulties,
• by protecting and adapting natural spaces in basins and infrastructures within the framework of basin management plans,
• by supporting the development of better coordinated agricultural and forestry policies regarding deforestation control, irrigation and water storage in particular.

It is especially necessary:

• to improve the collection of information allowing a modeling of the phenomena and the development of scenarios leading to an identification of the most vulnerable black spots, to giving priority to the actions to be carried out and to a suitable answer;
• to reinforce the water management institutions to guarantee a long-term and rational meeting of the needs of the populations, industry, hydropower power, agriculture and fresh water fish farming, tourism and of the ecosystems.

Investing in water management is profitable! This produces immediate dvantages but also creates a social, economic and environmental strength in the long term. Avoiding the effects of floods and droughts, fighting against wastages and pollution, protecting aquatic ecosystems also allow reducing poverty and ensuring sustainable development.

INBO member organizations have experience and expertise which they intend to pool and pit them at the disposal of all the countries and institutions which would like to follow them in an effective basin management approach.

The Assembly underlined the great interest of publishing “Briefs”, such as that on basin development and management, jointly published in 2008 with the “International Water Management Institute ” and the GWP - Global Water Partnership , and of course “Handbooks”, such as the “INBO/GWP Handbook on integrated management by basin”, which is a great success… already translated into nine languages, including Russian language.

The drafting of a second Handbook on transboundary river basin management to be launched in 2010 with GWP and UNESCO was well received.

The Assembly underlined successes of close cooperation between INBO's regional networks and regional GWPs in some regions (Africa, Europe, Central Asia and Caucasus) regarding implementation of IWRM principles at the basin level.

The Assembly was informed about establishment of the Network of Russian-speaking Basin Organizations of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA-NBO), which started in Moscow on 11 and 12 December 2008. Its provisional secretariat chaired by Mr. Victor Dukhovny is situated at the SIC ICWC in Tashkent.

The Assembly unanimously nominated Mr. Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, an academic, a researcher, a former Minister and current High Commissioner of the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS), as the new INBO World President until next General Assembly which will take place in 2013 in Brazil.

It also nominated the members of the World Liaison Bureau proposed by the national Authorities and Member Organizations concerned in each region: Mrs. Madeleine Jouye de Grandmaison (France) and Mr. Monsieur Laszlo Kothay are ex-officio members of the Liaison Bureau as former Presidents and Mr. Vicente Andreu Guillo, President of ANA (Brazil), as next President in 2013, as well as the representatives of the Permanent Technical Secretariats: Mr. Jean-Francois Donzier for INBO and EUROPE-INBO, Mr. Dalto Favero Brochi for LANBO, Mr. Luis Firmino Pereira for MENBO, Mrs. Daniela Radulescu for CEENBO, Mr. Adama Sanogo for ANBO and Mr. Javier Ferrer for MENBO, Mr. Normand Cazelais for NANBO and Mr. Vadim Sokolov for EECCA-NBO.

The Assembly awarded unanimously the title of «honorary INBO expert», for services rendered to the Network, to Mr. Laszlo Kothay, and to Messrs. Jacky Cottet, Walter Mazzitti, Victor Dukhovny, Pierre Roussel, Oscar Cordeiro, Ovidiu Gabor, Reginald Tekateka and Tamsir Ndyane.

The General Assembly proposed to the organizers of the 6th World Water Forum that INBO organizes preparatory work on « the creation and strengthening of Basin Organizations over the World and transboundary cooperation » in collaboration with the other relevant and representative organizations concerned, UNESCO and FAO in particular.

The Assembly mandated the World Liaison Bureau for preparing INBO participation in the 6th World Water Forum of Marseilles and for also planning active partnerships with the organizers of specific events on this occasion. It entrusted Messrs. Guy FRADIN and Victor DUKOVNY, as Governors of the World Water Council and Members of INBO World Liaison Bureau, and JF DONZIER from PTS, to ensure a permanent liaison with the Marseilles Forum organizers.

The field trip to water management structures at the Senegal River head near border with Mauritania was organized for the participants on 23 January.