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.
Africa's population is projected to reach 1.6 billion by 2030, which translates into a need to produce at least 50% more food; and at least a tenfold increase in water needs for energy production to support socio-economic development. These challenges and the resultant increase in water demand are further aggravated by rapid urbanization and industrialisation. This requires huge investments in water to satisfy the social and economic demands among other things.
On 17 September 2018, a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) entitled “Multi-party Recommendations on Water Resources Bill (RUU SDA)” was organized by Jejaring AMPL (Water and Sanitation Network) at Akmani Hotel, Jakarta. Water and Sanitation Network was formed on 8 October 2007 in Jakarta to address the issue of low service accessibility, weak coordination and synergy in the water and sanitation sector. Members of the Network comprises actors and observers in the water and sanitation sector in Indonesia. Discussions in the FGD produced inputs and revisions to the articles in the Water Resources Bill (RUU SDA). To follow up on the results of the discussion, a workshop with the same title was held to present the discussion results to responders and participants from the civil society, NGOs, government stakeholders, working partners and mass media. The workshop was held at The Park Lane Hotel on 20 September 2018.
On June 5, 2018, on the occasion of the World Environment Day, “the Forum on Youth Volunteering & Aids on River Prevention” was organised in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. This city locates within the Pearl River Delta, bordering Hong Kong to the south, spreading over nine municipalities (including Macau). It makes up part of the Pearl Delta River built-up area including 160+ rivers or channels with 447 million inhabitants reaching urbanisation up to 95%.
Achieving SDGs in a changing climate will require governments, societies and the private sector to change the way they use and manage water.
To accelerate this transformation, Member States of the African Union will implement the AIP as a vehicle to cultivate the leadership required to champion a comprehensive, inclusive and collaborative way of developing and managing water resources and improving water and sanitation related challenges.
After many years of hesitation, the Country Water Partnership of Guinea held its third partners’ meeting on December 14 in Conakry. The so awaited meeting gathered about sixty (60) representatives of partner organizations in the country and presided by the technical advisor to the Guinean Minister of Energy and Water, Mr. Ismael DIA.
