After almost five years since the initiation of the administrative process to change its legal status, Country Water Partnership, Cameroon (GWP-Cmr) is now an NGO following a Ministerial Decree n° 00000005 of April 1st 2020. This change in status brings along a number of advantages the possibility to seek direct funding from government ministries and related organizations in order to advance its mission of ensuring water security in Cameroon. In an interview with the Chair of GWP-Cmr, Mr. Mamoudou Ousman talks about GWP- Cmr, what prompted the need for a legal status change, benefits and challenges, and shares lessons learnt with other Country Water Partnerships (CWPs) in the GWP-CAF network looking to change their legal status.
Thirty members of women-led organizations in the Central African Republic have been trained on water security and management, gender, and climate resilience.
The SDG 6 IWRM support Programme Pase 3 was implemented in Ghana with the initiative called "Supporting Revision and Drafting of the Pra and Tano Basins Integrated Water Resources Management Plans in Ghana – Implementing Priority Action 1.2 of Ghana’s IWRM Action Plan". A collaborative work of
Ghana Country Water Partnership & Water Resources Commission.
Using the key challenges to IWRM implementation identified in Stage 1, Stage 2 aims to facilitate a government-led multi-stakeholder process to formulate and prioritise appropriate responses to those challenges. The result of Stage 2 is typically an IWRM Action Plan (the name might be adapted for each country), which constitutes a series of attractive investment opportunities to systematically guide the implementation of solutions to IWRM challenges.
Using the key challenges to IWRM implementation identified in Stage 1, Stage 2 aims to facilitate a government-led multi-stakeholder process to formulate and prioritise appropriate responses to those challenges. The result of Stage 2 is typically an IWRM Action Plan (the name might be adapted for each country), which constitutes a series of attractive investment opportunities to systematically guide the implementation of solutions to IWRM challenges.
Paraguay recently concluded a successful consultation workshop on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 6.5.1: Degree of Implementation of Integrated Management of Water Resources (IWRM). Paraguay is one of the countries that accepted support by GWP South America to carry out consultations on SDG 6.5.1. The first round of consultations started in 2016, and in Paraguay in 2017. Paraguay's 2020 consultation is one of many taking place worldwide to collect data and measure the progress made on IWRM.
For our third and final youth voice on water for 2019 we go to the warm Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago to meet Khadija Stewart, who shares her water journey and how social media and communication has guided her to where she is today: “A simple Facebook post changed my life”, she says. The story is part of a collaboration between World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW) and GWP to make sure the voices of youth are heard.
GWP Cameroon and its partners have trained women leaders in the Meri District, Northern Cameroon on community sensitization on fluorosis and its health impacts. The aim was to help change mentalities and break stereotypes related to dental fluorosis. An evaluation shows that the training and the activities of the women leaders has had a positive impact on the community's perception of the disease. The approach also created momentum for awareness activities in the entire Mayo Tsanaga River Basin.
Today’s water challenges need all water interests to be at the table to jointly diagnose, discuss, and develop shared solutions – including the private sector. Over the past years, GWP has been able to build experience in engaging the private sector. To further develop this work, engagement with the private sector cuts across all three GWP Anchor Areas (climate resilience, Sustainable Development Goals, and transboundary water cooperation) in the GWP 2020-2025 Strategy.
