The sixth statutory meeting of the Assembly of Partners of Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP-WA) was held on 7 and 8 May 2015 in Cotonou, Benin. The theme of the meeting was " The challenge of the post-2015 Development Agenda in Africa: what role for Partnerships in the context of Climate Change?'. Organized by the GWP Regional Secretariat in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, petroleum exploration, mining, water and renewable energy, and the Country Water Partnership of Benin, it was under the patronage of the Minister.
Burkina CWP has initiated a series of meetings with some foreign embassies in Ouagadougou. Thus, a delegation met with the Ambassador of Morocco in Ouagadougou, Mr. FARHAT BUAZZA on April 20, 2015 for a courtesy visit to present the CWP and its portfolio of projects for a possible collaboration. The Ambassador welcomed the visit and thanked the Chair and his team.
The delegation met on April 23, the Ambassador of South Africa, HE Mr. Gangumzi TSENGIWE, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium in Burkina Faso, Mr Philip HEUTS.
The Ghana Country Water Partnership (CWP-Ghana), as a way forward to the Media Training which was held in September last year, supported the Ghana WatSan Journalists Network (GWJN) to carry out a three day field activity in order to determine access to water in some areas of Accra. The exercise was held from 19th to 21st March, 2015.
The purpose for the activity was to ascertain the extent of access to water and sanitation services in some communities in Accra. In all, there were 18 participants in the exercise from, Wash Times, Xinhua News Agency, The Accra Times, Today Newspaper, Daily Guide, Daily Graphic, Weekend Sun, Metro TV, Starr FM, The General Telegraph and Ghanaian Times.
Margaret Catley Carlson who was the Chair and the Patron of GWP visited GWP China Secretariat and its Host Institute, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR) on May 16, 2015, in Beijing.
On May 15, 2015, Angela Klauschen, Senior Network Officer of GWPO visited GWP China Regional Secretariat in Beijing.
With global change projections pointing to increasing water scarcity and drought in the Mediterranean, which are bound to cause significant environmental and socio-economic impacts, the development of a new management approach for water basins by integrating scientific thinking with sociological considerations seems essential.
GWP has published its Annual Report for 2014, highlighting network achievements across all regions. “2014 was a rich and inspiring year. We significantly increased the visibility of our growing network at the local, regional, and global level,” wrote GWP Chair Dr. Ursula Schaefer-Preuss in her introduction.
The fourth and final workshop within the Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) was held on 21-22 April 2015 in Bucharest, Romania.
In 2014, GWP Central America with key partners put into place five pilot projects that demonstrate that water security and IWRM are fundamental to adaptation to climate change. Two of the projects are already proving the point.
In conjunction with World Water Day 2015, the Global Environment Centre (GEC) – a GWP Partner in Malaysia – organized “Water Play” under the Water Conservation Programme for schools in Malaysia, also known as the Dr. H20 project.