GWP SA was invited to join about twenty other stakeholders in a discussion convened by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) Brownbag. The discussion was held on 27th November 2013 to converse food insecurity in Southern Africa. The brown bag represents an effort to engage stakeholders to dialogue in order to address deeper problems – focusing on changing underlying policy, legislation and practice, rather than on short-term welfarest interventions. The discussion was moderated by Masego Madzwamuse, the Economic Justice Programme Manager at OSISA.
As an implementing partner in delivering components of the GiZ Transboundary Water Resources Management Programme Phase III in SADC, GWP SA is supporting stakeholder and Capacity needs analysis in the Limpopo and Orange-Senqu River Basins. This exercise falls under Programme 6 – Stakeholder Participation, under the “Mainstreaming Climate Change into the Water Sector within the SADC Region”.
GWP SA is a collaborating partner of the WaterNet/ WARFSA/ GWP SA Symposium. The 14th WaterNet Symposium was held on 30th October to 1st November 2013 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The theme of this year’s WaterNet Symposium was “Transboundary Water Cooperation: Building Partnerships”.
The GWP Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) guided and inspired a National Dialogue between the Burundi Ministry of Water, Environment, Land Management and Urbanism (MEATU) and citizens over the sustainable management of the Cohoha Water Catchment in December 2013.
Dr. Beatrice Mosello, from the Overseas Development Institute, shares her experience of the recent Water, Climate Development Programme training workshop in Addis Ababa, and her optimism for the integration of water security and climate resilience into development planning in Africa.
GWP CACENA Regional Council Meeting was held on 23-25 December 2013 in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Regional Council Members considered the following main five items:
- Joining the Country Water Partnership of Mongolia into GWP CACENA network;
- GWP CACENA regional work program and budget for 2014;
- GWP CACENA Calendar of Events for 2014;
- Climate Change Adaptation Program for the period 2013-2015 (funded by GWPO);
- Organizational issues.
Groundwater is a critical source of fresh drinking water for the citizens and also supplies irrigated agriculture in Shaanxi Province. Groundwater is also important in sustaining streams, lakes, wetlands, and associated ecosystems. In the meantime , effects of climate change on groundwater resources are closely linked to other global change drivers, including population growth, urbanization and land-use change, coupled with other socio-economic and political trends.
The Mongolian Water Partnership (MWP) has formally decided to apply for GWP membership and create a Country Water Partnership on the national level, and to join the GWP Central Asia and Caucasus region (CACENA).
GWP’s Water, Climate and Development Programme for Africa (WACDEP), in collaboration with the UNDP-UNEP led National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP) recently arranged a Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop. The topic was the ‘Economics of Adaptation Water Security, and Climate Resilient Development’.
About 120 representatives of competent institutions, authorities, regional and national NGOs, academia, representatives of the private sector from the Drin Riparians as well as international organizations and donor countries participated in the 2nd Drin Basin Multi-Stakeholders Conference (Tirana, Albania, 10 -11 December 2013).