In a breakthrough for water, the 7th African Development Forum held in Addis Ababa in October put water on the infrastructure agenda alongside energy, transport and communications. This marked a turning point in overcoming resistance to large water projects stemming from negative perceptions of social and environmental impacts.
Focusing on six water-scarce islands in the Cyclades, Greece, one grey water system and 11 rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems were installed or repaired. The total installed capacity reached about 2.2 million litres with an estimated annual water yield of 4.42 million litres, benefiting 8,500 permanent inhabitants in small and isolated communities.
The Consejo Hídrico Federal (COHIFE) delegate, one of the participants in a regional meeting on finance in the water sector held in March 2009, was instrumental in arranging for a workshop on the issue in Argentina in November 2010.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia share the Sava River Basin. As the after effects of the devastating war in the region have subsided, these countries have started to cooperate on environmental issues.
Although an IWRM approach was incorporated into the development of the new Rajasthan State Water Policy in 2010, it quickly became clear that few stakeholders had a clear understanding of how it worked. Now, GWP India and their NGO Partner, Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti, have created a better understanding of the IWRM approach by involving all stakeholders in a capacity building programme, enabling them to take the lead in the planning and management of water resources in the state.
GWP Guatemala was invited to participate in the Water Cabinet created by the President of Guatemala in August 2008. The Cabinet represents a national effort to promote IWRM at the highest levels and is coordinated by the country’s vice-president and made up of ten ministers.
Cancun, December 8, 2010. This morning the closure of the Dialogs for Water and Climate Change (D4WCC) were held during a side event session that had the participation of high level speakers.
The UN climate negotiations in Cancún, Mexico, will be an opportunity to take a sober look at the state of the world’s climate and our collective capacity to respond to the changes which are already visible: more extreme weather events, floods, droughts, glacier melting, polar ice caps shrinking, and sea levels rising, GWP Executive Secretary Dr Ania Grobicki writes in a publication issued for the COP16 delegates (click on link at right).