The BRIGHT project is a 5-year project, running from January 2024 to December 2028. It will be implemented in the Abbay, Upper Awash, Omo-Gibie, Rift Valley, and Tekezie Basins, each with diverse features. The project will cover at least 70% of the country’s landmass, 73.5% of its water potential, reach 79.5 million people over 512 districts. It is being carried out by WLRC in close collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE) at all levels, including the Basin Administrative Offices (BAOs) of the targeted basins under the guidance of MoWE Regional Bureaus, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Irrigation and Low Lands (MoILL), and Ministry of Plan and Development (MoPD). The project is funded by The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN) in Ethiopia and the European Union (EU).

The BRIGHT Project aims to enhance resilience and reduce vulnerability to drought and climate change in Ethiopia, ultimately improving Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Abbay, Awash, Rift Valley, Omo-Gibie, and Tekezie basins. Specifically, the project aims to:

• Strengthen the technical, managerial, regulatory, infrastructural, and logistical capacities of MoWE, selected BAOs, and concerned regional bureaus in IWRM;
• Support the design and implementation of a well-functioning Basin Information System for IWRM and generate additional evidence to address knowledge gaps in the selected river basins;
• Support in the revision/preparation of basin plans and facilitate their implementation by supporting priority and high-impact IWRM projects in the target basins; and
• Establish climate-smart IWRM learning sub-basins and watersheds in the target basins.

The BRIGHT project consists of six work packages: (1) project management and coordination; (2) inception phase; (3) enhancing IWRM capacity of MoWE, BAOs, and regional bureaus; (4) supporting the establishment of a basin information system; (5) supporting the preparation and/ or revision of basin plans and facilitating implementation by supporting priority and high-impact IWRM projects in target basins; and (6) supporting the establishment of climate-smart IWRM learning sub-basins and watersheds in the target basins.

The BRIGHT project will have far-reaching multi-dimensional benefits for the communities and stakeholders participating in the project implementation through enhanced and diversified livelihoods. The stakeholders of the project include MoWE, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ministry of Irrigation and Lowlands (MoILL), Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority (EEPA), Bureaus of Water, Agriculture, Irrigation, and BAOs. Additionally, Wereda water, agriculture, and irrigation offices, Kebele administration offices, Watershed user associations, Water Users Associations (WUA), and communities in the project areas are stakeholders in the BRIGHT Project.