Outcome challenge 1a
Where policies and plans are in place, governments incorporate them into national development processes and implement them with support from others.
Outcome challenge 1b
Where policies and plans are not in place or weak, governments develop them, incorporate them into national development processes and implement them with support from others.
Outcome challenge 1c
Non-government actors, including GWP, civil society and external support agencies, work together to build local capacities and help governments implement their policies and plans.
Strategy to reach Goal 1
GWP has successfully advocated an integrated approach to water management and supported countries in preparing the IWRM plans called for by the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. Yet much remains to be done to make these well-intentioned plans operational. The world faces many persistent water problems, not least in meeting the Millennium Development Goals and creating an enabling environment for better resource management. According to the UN-Water Status Report on IWRM and Water Efficiency Plans (2008), 68 percent of developed countries, but only 38 percent of developing countries have IWRM plans completed or underway. Progress on plans for water efficiency lags even further behind.
GWP will take a two-pronged approach. For countries well advanced in planning, GWP will use the integrated approach to help implement the plans. GWP will emphasise local engagement and building capacity to manage water and put policies into practice. Further development of the GWP ToolBox will play an instrumental role in supporting governments as they move from planning to application. For those countries that do not yet have policies and plans, but wish to develop them, GWP will provide support in the development process and, at the same time, will help build their capacity to implement those plans.
A key element of this goal will be to embed water security into national development plans, such as poverty reduction strategies and comprehensive development frameworks. To do this, GWP will demonstrate the need to bring together fragmented institutional responsibilities and interests in water, such as finance, planning, agriculture, energy, tourism, industry, education and health. A critical part of the strategy will be to engage with and influence those ministries, businesses, civil society actors and those from other sectors that use water to achieve their development goals. This will help to raise the political profile of water, improve policy making and increase budget allocations.
Sound economic and social arguments influence decision makers. This means that GWP must demonstrate why better water resources management is important for development. The Partnership understands that simply drafting plans does not solve water problems. What counts is how realistic the plans are, what political buy-in they have, what funds are available to implement them, and how much they contribute to development priorities, poverty alleviation and ecosystem health.
Specifically, GWP will provide support in the following areas at regional and national levels and beyond:
Improving support for water management through national processes
Improving governance systems
Improving water infrastructure
Improving financing for water management
Facilitating transboundary cooperation
Monitoring progress on IWRM
- Improving support for water management through national processes
- Improving governance systems
- Improving water infrastructure
- Improving financing for water management
- Facilitating transboundary cooperation
- Monitoring progress on IWRM