Until the world puts water at the top of the development agenda, efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals will falter. That is one reason why the Global Water Partnership (GWP) engaged in a five-year program to develop Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) plans with governments in 13 African countries.

While results differed in each country, in all of them progress was made in highlighting the importance, at the policy level, of the contribution of water resources management to the development agenda. In doing so, the program gave rise to a multitude of lessons not just relevant to the water sector, but to all social change processes driving sustainable development for the benefit of people.

The report that contains these lessons, Water Security for Development: Insights from African Partnerships in Action will be launched by the President of the Africa Minister’s Council on Water (AMCOW) at a High Ministerial Session on Africa Focus Day, Wednesday, September 8, 2010, at the Stockholm World Water Week. The report will be the subject of a pre-launch Press Briefing on September 8 at 13:00 in the Water Week Press Room.

The lead author of the report, Alex Simalabwi of GWP, will be there to present the findings and to answer questions. Other spokespeople include: Ania Grobicki, GWP Executive Secretary, Reggie Tekateka, President of the Technical Advisory Committee of AMCOW, and Simon Thuo, GWP Eastern Africa Regional Coordinator.

The lessons learned center around the importance of understanding the development context, having a strategic road map, ensuring sustainability and capacity development. In addition, the report provides policy recommendations for decision-makers that, if applied, could not only strengthen water management but also improve national development processes.

Download report

Water Security for Development will be available on Wednesday 8 September at www.gwp.org.

Contact

For information about the Press Briefing, contact one of the following:

Steven Downey, GWP Head of Communications, Phone: +46 (0)8 522 126 52 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +46 (0)8 522 126 52 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, steven.downey@gwpforum.org

Helene Komlos Grill, GWP Communications Officer, Phone: +46 (0)73 914 26 53 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +46 (0)73 914 26 53 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, helene.komlosgrill@gwpforum.org

Lovisa Selander, SIWI Communications Officer, Phone:+46 (0)8 522 139 86 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +46 (0)8 522 139 86 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, lovisa.selander@siwi.org