While Pakistan endures one of the country’s most devastating floods—possibly its worst ever—GWP Pakistan is joining with others to help provide relief and rehabilitation to remote communities that have been particularly hard-hit. In addition, the GWP Partner Hisaar Foundation and the Karachi Water Partnership, has launched an appeal to raise Rs 10 million for immediate flood relief, largely for the provision of safe drinking water.
The Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), supported by GWP Bangladesh, has conducted a study on managing flood risks for Dhaka in the face of climate change. The study resulted in a concept note on Climate Resilient Urban Flood Risk Management Framework for Dhaka.
GWP Pakistan collaborated on a National Workshop on Pakistan’s Preparations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Islamabad on 12-13 September 2011. GWP Pakistan held a side event to promote IWRM and water saving/recycling and environmental conservation measures at ground level. The workshop was organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, UN One and the Rio+20 Secretariat.
For the first time the Government of India has selected a non-government organisation, GWP India West Zone Water Partnership (WZWP) Coordinating Agency, Gomukh Trust, to prepare an integrated water resources development and management plan.
Social equity is the least understood of the 3 E’s (equity, economic efficiency and environmental sustainability) in the concept of integrated water resources management. This new Global Water Partnership Technical Committee Background Paper No. 15, “Social Equity and Integrated Water Resources Management”, sets out an overarching framework for the analysis of equity in the context of water development and management. It is intended as an aid to decision makers in designing policies, interventions, and programs aimed at the equitable distribution of benefits from water resources.
Thanks to an innovative partnership between the Global Water Partnership and the IHP-HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy & Science, under the auspices of UNESCO, based at the University of Dundee, the first joint group of International Water Law Scholars from Cameroon, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Ukraine and Zambia were able to begin their studies by attending the 2nd Annual Workshop on International Law and Transboundary Freshwaters, held at the University of Dundee.
Media is often a critical link between policymakers and the public. The media focus on environmental issues is increasing, especially in light of the global interest in climate change. This is why GWP regularly organizes awareness-raising workshops for journalists. GWP South America and GWP Caribbean recently organised workshops as a first step to creating journalist networks for knowledge sharing in water resources management.
With critical challenges, such as climate change, the Mediterranean region is even more prone to issues such as water scarcity and extreme weather events, including droughts and floods.
Recently the GWP ToolBox, a free online database for those interested in better water management, has been improved with a number of new features and resources.
In the last two years, UN-Water and GWP have conducted studies to assess progress made in IWRM planning and implementation. The UN-Water global assessment includes case studies with illustrations of the tangible benefits of an integrated approach.