From Left to Right (Front Row): Mr. O’Reilly Lewis, President of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA); Dr. John Mwansa, Manager of Engineering at the Barbados Water Authority (BWA); Mr. Christopher Husbands, General Manager at the National Water and Sewerage Authority of Grenada; The Honourable Porscha Stubbs-Smith, Minister of Environment and Home Affairs of the Turks and Caicos Islands; Dr. Natalie Boodram, Programme Manager of the GWP-C Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) for the Caribbean; The Honourable Reginald Austrie, Minister of Lands, Housing, Settlements and Water Resource Management of Dominica; Mr. Alex Simalabwi, Senior Network Officer of the Global Water Partnership (GWP) responsible for the GWP-C; Mr. Ermath Harrington, GWP-C Steering Committee Member.
From Left to Right (Back Row): The Honourable Troy Liburd, Minister of Works and Communications of Nevis; Mr. Armelius Hernandez, President of S.I.A.E.A.G. in Guadeloupe; Mr. Martin Alegria representative for the Minister with responsibility for Water of Belize; The Honourable David C. Estwick, Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management of Barbados; Mr. Lenrick Lake, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities of St. Kitts; and The Honourable Evan Gumbs, Minister of Infrastructure, Communications, Utilities and Housing of Anguilla.
The main goal of the WACDEP for the Caribbean is to promote water security and climate resilience in Caribbean states as a key part of sustainable regional and national development for economic growth and human security. The Programme which will be implemented by GWP-C in partnership with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), responds directly to climate change adaptation actions related to water management as defined in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Plan for Achieving Development Resilient to Climate Change.
Honourable Reginald Austrie, Minister of Lands, Housing, Settlements and Water Resource Management of The Commonwealth of Dominica gave the feature address at the launch and underscored that the burden of climate change on water resources management in the Caribbean can be addressed by embracing an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach. According to Minister Austrie “Adopting an IWRM approach will entail the mainstreaming of climate resilience into water sector planning, processes and investment strategies.”
In addressing stakeholders at the launch, Minister Austrie also emphasised the need for greater climate resilience and water security awareness among the general public and multi-scale information sharing and cooperation among stakeholders at all levels. According to him “Strong partnerships will be critical in meeting the region’s water-related climate change challenges.”
Also speaking at the launch was Dr. Natalie Boodram, Programme Manager of the GWP-C WACDEP who reinforced the sentiments expressed by Minister Austrie as she explained that the IWRM approach would be embedded in the implementation of the Programme.
Dr. The Honourable David C. Estwick, Minister of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resource Management of Barbados present at the launch, congratulated the GWP-C for spearheading an initiative such as the WACDEP for the Caribbean.
Other distinguished guests at the Caribbean WACDEP launch included: The Honourable Evan Gumbs, Minister of Infrastructure, Communications, Utilities and Housing of Anguilla; The Honourable Troy Liburd, Minister of Works and Communications of Nevis; The Honourable Porscha Stubbs-Smith, Minister of Environment and Home Affairs of the Turks and Caicos Islands; Mr. Lenrick Lake, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities of St. Kitts; as well as Ministers’ representatives from Antigua, Belize, Grenada and Guadeloupe.
The WACDEP for the Caribbean promotes partnership and cooperation at the national, regional and global levels which is indicative of the work of the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C). The WACDEP which will be executed at the regional and country level aims to build on and add to relevant past and current initiatives to benefit the region.
More on the GWP-C Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) can be found here.