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The first step of working towards water security is to understand the nature and the scope of the resource itself. That means taking a holistic view of the water resources in a given country or region and relating those to their use by society and the environment. For that, demand and supply need to be assessed and data on the physical and the socio-economic aspects of the resource gathered. It is also important to understand how policies are performing, which is why indicators for IWRM should be developed and used for monitoring and evaluation.

GWP Eastern Africa’s communication and knowledge management strategies and activities are informed by the objectives imbedded in the overall GWP communications strategy and work plans.

The Global Water Partnership will cooperate with McGill University in Canada on an IWRM online course by providing knowledge resources on all aspects related to IWRM including Water Resources Planning and Water Governance, Law and Policy through its knowledge platform the IWRM Toolbox.

The sixth SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue was held on 1-2 October 2013 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka, Zambia. The dialogue was sponsored by DANIDA and other cooperating partners (German Cooperation, Australian Aid, UK Aid).

In response to the drought and water shortage in the north of Chile, in 2012 several proposals were put forward to carry water from the central-south zone to the northern zone. Two projects, one French and the other Spanish, propose carrying water through the sea and across the land respectively.

Following the reorganisation of the water sector in Zambia, an action that decentralised service provision, it became crucial to monitor the service providers and the consumer experience. Action was taken to set up Water Watch Groups that have as their responsibility to raise public awareness about rights and obligations. This case study, concludes that consumer involvement is the key to the success of water sector reforms. 

Water management in Kazakhstan was previously characterised by a command and control approach. The Water Code was adopted in 2003 as an answer to these problems. Furthermore, a project was launched to evaluate the current state of the legal framework for IWRM and to identify the potential for improvements and propose amendments to the Water Code. It is evident that IWRM is a complex approach and any amendments need to be done holistically. 

The Lake Basin Development Authority was set up to manage the entire catchment area of all rivers draining into Lake Victoria. However, its performance was not to the expectation. A further, action was taken to decentralise management and priority was given to achieve access to basic water requirements for the poor, as well as quality of water and improving availability of water for livestock and irrigation. The key lesson learnt is the importance of a participatory approach.