More than 140 decision makers and representatives of government, civil society, international organisations, donors, financing institutions, and the private and banking sector, came together for 3 days sharing experiences and discussing needs, challenges and next steps during the “Conference on Water Governance in MENA and wider Mediterranean region” that was held in Barcelona, on 12-14 December. The Regional Conference was organised under the auspices of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), by two UfM-labelled projects supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), namely the Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector project led by GWP-Med, and the Regional Water Integrity Capacity Building Programme in MENA, led by SIWI UNDP Water Governance Facility. The Conference was organised in close and strategic synergy with the EU-funded Sustainable Water Integrated Management and Horizon 2020 Support Mechanism (SWIM-H2020 SM) regional project.
Mr. Hongqi SHANG, on behalf of GWP China Region, was duly approved by the GWP Steering Committee as new independent Nomination Committee member on 5th December 2017, in Stockholm, Sweden.
Let us congratulate this tireless water-worrier to be a member of the GWP Nomination Committee!!!
Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism was proposed by Chinese Primer Likeqiang ni the 17th China-ASEAN Leaders’ meeting held in November of 2015, which aims to strengthen all-round and friendly cooperation among China and Mekong countries and promote regional overall development. The First Lancang-Mekong (LMC) Foreign Ministers Meeting held in Jinghong, Yunnan Province of China in November of 2015 formally announced the establishment of the LMC Mechanism.
On December 11 and 12, 2017, the GWP Pan-Asian delegation formed by members of GWPO, GWP CASENA Region, GWP China Region, GWP SAS Region and GWP SEA Region participated into the 3rd APWS and organized a thematic session during the Summit in Yangon, Myanmar.
United Nations Water (UN-Water) coordinates the efforts of United Nations entities and international organizations working on water and sanitation issues. The UN Regional Commissions are mandated to provide recommendations from all regions for a more efficient model for regional level coordination of UN-Water activities, in the context of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development and with a focus on SDG6.
Asia and the Pacific has made impressive progress towards achieving several sustainable development goals including poverty alleviation, education and economic growth. At the same time, the region needs to accelerate concerted efforts across all sectors to achieve the SDGs by 2030. In the face of transboundary challenges such as climate change and natural disasters, energy security and connectivity, ecosystem degradation on land and in our oceans, and promoting sustainable equitable trade, regional cooperation can support and complement the effectiveness of national mechanisms and be a link between global goals and country level commitments.
Water is the interconnector of all other sectors; Therefore, it is not possible to support sectors development without understanding the role of water as one of the important development foundation. As important as it is, water is still considered as social goods and do not have value by development actors. This condition has created a very complex challenge for the development of water sector itself. In Asia Pacific region, the complexities of water challenges then urged the establishment of The Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) in Asia Pacific region.
On the occasion of its 15th Anniversary and the launching of the SDG Water Preparedness Facility Program in Hungary, GWP Hungary invited partners, donors, collaborators and supporters to an Anniversary meeting, which was held on the 20th of November 2017 in Budapest.
More than 100 Members of Parliament, media and representatives of civil society working on environment and water issues got together from 22-24 November 2017, in Nicosia, to get informed, exchange views and provide suggestions on key Mediterranean processes on environment and water in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Participants originated from Albania, Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia along with the members of the United Nations Environment, UNESCO, UNECE, the Union for Mediterranean (UfM) and League of Arab States (LAS).
The International Secretariat for Water (ISW), Eau Vive International in collaboration with GWP WA and other partners have organized a training on the topic “New ideas for a better sharing of resources”.
