Africa is the most vulnerable continent for climate change although contributing very less to green house gas emission. Water resources remain an important element for the adaptation to climate change. They are available but are not known enough to support decision making. The conference on ‘‘Decision-Making support for coastal Zone management, Water resources and climate change in Africa’’ aimed at raising awareness of decision makers on the need to promote knowledge on water resources and natural disasters, to allow better planning of the resources and the related infrastructures development, and successfully anticipate forthcoming disasters for better adaptation. From 15th to 17th February 2010 in Cotonou, the conference allowed extensive exchange and provide forum for African Scientists/Scholars and policy makers to highlight and focus attention on coastal/water resource issues/phenomena of interest (coastal flooding, erosion, water quality & depletion) and impact of climate change on these Issues/phenomena of interest. It gave the opportunity to: - identify success stories and gaps in products and applications; - clarify user(s) and user needs; - discuss observation needs, requirements and gaps; - discuss modeling and analysis needs, requirements and gaps; - build resilience to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change; - address regional capacity empowerment needs and opportunities; - highlight socio-economic importance and benefits; - find ways for strengthening regional coordination of efforts; - strategize on the Way forward; - take stock of African achievements and potentials in earth observation; - assess the state of research infrastructures in the continent; - find ways for empowering African expertise in related fields; - network research facilities and expertise across the continent and beyond ; - and forge new partnerships, cooperative alliances, joint ventures and policy dialogue. GWP/WA use this precious opportunity provided by UNESO/PHI, Benin Government and the Benin CWP, to raise awareness of scientists of some West African countries, to participate in discussions and be more sensitive on IWRM and climate change adaptation challenges. Participants from Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Ghana, attended the conference supported by GWP/WA through both the EU-GWPO financed PIWAG and the Dutch funded PAWDII. Benin CWP played a very active role in the organization and supported the participation of some local scientists/scholars and policy makers active in the water sector in Benin. Sidi Coulibaly sidi.coulibaly@gwpao.org