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Three-day AWC First General Assembly-Summary Report
Reported by HE Mr. Watt Botkosal
Regional Chair, GWPSEA on 30 March 2016

 

 

The 1^st Asia Water Council General Assembly was hosted and Co-organized by Ministry of Public Works and Housing and AWC Secretariat on 24-26 March 2016, Nusa Dua Beach Hotel and Spa, Bali, Indonesia. The AWC was established by 15 Founders of Countries and international Agencies since the 7^th World Water Week in Korea. The AWC aims to raise global awareness of Asia’s water problems and promote the sustainable development of Asia by resolving regional water issues. The General Assembly aimed to discuss the AWC Constitution and the operation plan for the AWC and to share the commitments from Founders. The General Assembly was attended by about 200 participants from about 50 organizations including Minister, Vice-Minister, Directors General, Directors, Chairpersons, AWC Secretariat, national and international organizations from Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia such as UNESCO-IHP, FAO, and ADB (Asian Development Bank), KOICA,  Representative of GWP SEA, Country Water Partnership of Indonesia, national agencies etc. 

 

Within the context of the partnership ECCAS-GWP signed in December 2013, a meeting held in Libreville, Gabon from 29^th to 31^st of July 2015 brought together the two parties.

The meeting aimed at assessing the progress made in the process of developing a regional strategy and action plan for hydrological and meteorological services in Central Africa on the one hand and take stock of the process of the creation and operationalization of the Regional Solidarity Fund for Water following the submission of the final document to ECCAS for validation on the other hand.

In honour of World Water Day, representatives of The Office of the President of Malta, the Energy and Water Agency of Malta, and the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med), signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the rehabilitation of a rainwater harvesting reservoir at San Anton Palace, in the framework of Alter Aqua programme. The ceremony took place at the Presidential palace in Attard, right by San Anton Gardens where the water reservoir is located, in the presence of the Alter Aqua partners. These include General Soft Drinks Co. Ltd representing Coca-Cola in Malta, as the programme has been financially supported by The Coca-Cola Foundation since 2011.

The unique value of GWP lies in its capability to mobilise action on the global water crisis through a combination of social capital, shared values, credibility within the global water community, bottom-up orientation, and expertise. This ensures that the ‘voices of water’ can influence local, national, regional, and global development priorities.

In partnership with the Council for Caribbean Science and Technology (CCST), Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) received a grant from the Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund (PGTTF) to finance a Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) project for the Caribbean.

GWP Chair Dr Oyun Sanjaasuren will be one of the panellists in a UN General Assembly Water Dialogue on World Water Day, 22 March 2017. Experts are invited to discuss how to improve the integration and coordination of UN's work on the water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets.

This activity was commissioned to mitigate wasteful water behavior in the showers and washbasins

GWP PAN ASIA Workshop on ‘Innovative Urban Water Management’ is scheduled to be held on 14 and 15 July 2016 at Singapore PUB Water Hub, Singapore with the objective of promoting the exchange of experience and knowledge on innovative urban water management approaches in Asia, among the four GWP Regional Water Partnerships and key Asian Regional Organisations.

During the 5^th Meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Water Expert Group (WEG) in November 2015, a UfM Ministerial Conference on Water has been proposed to take place the first semester of 2017 in Malta. The technical process towards that was launched  with the WEG mandating a Drafting Group to elaborate on technical contents, in case the political partners decide to convene the suggested ministerial meeting.