Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene September - October 2016 Vol. 11 No.4 | Page 40

Publications

GEO-6: Global Environment Outlook: Regional
assessment for Africa, 2016
United Nations
Environment Programme
The GEO 6 regional
assessment recognizes Africa’s
rich natural capital - the
diversity of soil, geology,
biodiversity, water, landscapes
and habitats- which if wisely
managed, hold the promise
to lead the region to a future
where ecosystem integrity,as
well as human health and wellbeing are continuously enhanced.
It also observes that the economic growth of Africa
hinges on the sustainable management of its natural capital
that involves reconciling wise stewardship with human
development for today’s population and future generations.
This requires both the protection and valuation of these
natural assets, as well as effectively communicating their
importance.
IWMI scientist contributes to global gender review
IWMI’s Barbara van Koppen
is a contributing author to
the ‘Global Gender and
Environment Outlook’ a firstof-its-kind publication by the
United Nations Environment
Programme. In her contribution
to the Outlook, Barbara
highlights how gender gaps
in access to and control over
water for productive uses
continue to widen, especially
affecting the rural poor. Equal
control, from the point of view of gender, over water and
water infrastructure, as well as land, labour, resources and
decision-making, should be at the forefront in analysis and
action for sustainable growth.
Promoting Green Urban Development in African
Cities: Kampala, Uganda, Urban Environmental
Profile
The city of Kampala has undergone a period of rapid
urbanization that has contributed to the degradation of
the city’s natural environment. The urban environmental
profile for Kampala has been prepared as the first
component of the assignment promoting green urban
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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • September - October 2016

development in Africa:
enhancing the relationship
between urbanization,
environmental assets, and
ecosystem services, a project
being conducted under the
leadership of the World
Bank. An overall objective
of this project is to link the
study of urban environmental
issues with the advancement
of more sustainable
urban growth. The profile
summarizes the existing quality of the wetlands and other
aquatic and terrestrial environmental assets, identifies the
key drivers that are the cause of their vulnerability, and
describes the key institutional challenges and constraining
factors that limit the city’s ability to address environmental
management challenges. Identification of the key
environmental assets and key drivers of environmental
degradation within the city required a more comprehensive
review of reports on urban planning and infrastructure
services. The city has recently made progress in the
development of key infrastructure systems such as solid
waste management and sanitation. The report is organized
as follows: section one gives introduction. Section two
sets the background and context for Kampala, providing
an overview of the impacts of rapid urbanization and
climate change, drawing linkages to urban environmental
assets. Section three, quality of the environmental assets
of Kampala describes the state of the key environmental
assets, including the terrestrial assets, aquatic assets, and
air quality, and attempts to infer the associated historic
and current trends. Section four, drivers of environmental
vulnerability and degradation describes the key issues that
are driving degradation and the impacts caused. Section
five, institutional issues and challenges describes the key
factors that constrain Kampala‘s ability to effectively
address environmental management challenges. Section
six, provides a synthesis of key findings.
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2015. Promoting Green Urban
Development in African Cities : Kampala, Uganda, Urban
Environmental Profile. World Bank, Washington, DC.
© World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/
handle/10986/22941 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”