During the latter half of 2018, GWP South America has focused on transboundary waters, engaging regional key partners and proposing an integral approach to the topic. Three events have been held since September, and on 8-9 November, regional GWP representatives were invited as special guests and panelists to an international event in Lima on transboundary waters.

The water situation in Venezuela remains critical, both in quality and quantity. In a recent national television interview, Yazenia Frontado, Chair of GWP Venezuela and Vice Chair of GWP South America, spoke about GWP Venezuela’s work to revert this situation.

The GWP Latin American International Water Law Training Programme held a successful VIII edition of a regional workshop with focus on La Plata Basin on 26-29 September. It was attended by 23 participants from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, and Uruguay, most of them from public institutions.

Dr. Nicole Bernex is a Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and a Member of the GWP Technical Committee. She has been active in the GWP network for many years, the past ten of them through GWP Peru. When asked to talk about a topic close to her heart, Dr. Bernex chooses a project that GWP has been running successfully in Peru for the past two years, the Santa Eulalia Water, Climate and Development Programme.

GWP Senior Knowledge Management Officer Dr. Danka Thalmeinerova conducted a training on the IWRM ToolBox in Sao Paolo, Brazil, on 9-10 December.  The workshop was targeted at university lecturers from Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil. 

An International Water Law workshop took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 16-20 November. The event promoted international cooperation and good transboundary water resources governance in the Amazon and Rio de la Plata basins.

Eighty representatives from a diversity of water–related sectors participated in an informative meeting, held on 22 May 2015 in La Paz, to learn about the advantages of establishing a Country Water Partnership (CWP) in Bolivia.

GWP Central America has been working closely with the Regional Committee for Water Resources (CRRH), which is part of the Central American Integration System, to strengthen regional capacity in the monitoring of climate to support decision making, especially related to agriculture, fisheries, water resources management, risk management and food security.

GWP held a press briefing at the UNFCCC COP20 conference in Lima, Peru, on Tuesday 9 December. The delegates reiterated the GWP network’s firm support of a dedicated water goal on the post-2015 development agenda. The Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) was highlighted as an important tool to combat water related problems in connection with climate change.

The Director of the National Water Agency of Brazil, Gisela Forattini, who is also a GWP Steering Committee member, introduced the GWP Gender Strategy at the Governmental Forum of Social Responsibility held on 18 September in Brazil.