“An integrated approach to managing and developing the world’s water resources is vital for not only driving world economies, ensuring human well-being and security from hunger, but can also serve as an essential building block for enhancing coherence on adaptation,” said Dr. Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, Chair of GWP at a side event at the Bonn climate change negotiations. “Water is the connecting link because climate impacts are largely felt through the medium of water,” she said.
During the first quarter of 2013, CWP-Benin was busy with the final work (technical and financial reports, project final report; capitalization report) of the Multiannual program to support Water and sanitation sector (PPEA) phase I implemented by CWP-Benin which was completed in December 2012. Similarly, the CWP has also participated actively in the formulation and the launching of phase 2 of the program which will run over three years from 2013 to 2015.
“Building resilience of people, communities and countries to these water-related disasters and extreme climate events is the major challenge of our time, as climate change will get worse before it gets better,” were the closing words of the speech given by the GWP Chair Dr Ursula Schaefer-Preuss at the first meeting of the High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) on 4 June 2013 in Tokyo, Japan.
Over twenty (20) lecturers and researchers from universities across the Caribbean will meet in Barbados at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus for the first-ever Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Knowledge Management Workshop to be held in the region on June 5th and 6th, 2013.
Mr. Bulat Yessekin, GWP CACENA Regional Council Member from Kazakhstan, is selected to the GWP Steering Committee for 2013-2015 by the GWP Nomination Committee.
On 12-19 May 2013 the Republic of Armenia hosted 11th European Youth Parliament for Water on “Water Resource Management”.
GWP South America is working on the implementation of a new Latin American Training Programme on Water Legislation for International River Basins. This programme aims to encourage improved international cooperation and facilitate good water governance in the region. Its main outputs will be three training workshops, a manual to support training processes and a monitoring report which will identify knowledge gaps, capacity needs, lessons learned and follow-up needs.
Rwanda is located in eastern Africa, and is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congoto the west, UgandaTanzania to the east, and Burundi to the south. It lies a few degrees south of the equator and is landlocked.
A Regional Day under the theme of “Improved Efficiency for Increased Resilience to Climate Change: an Integrated Water Resources Management Perspective”, and a seminar on “Different Capacities, Different Roles – Empowering South Asian Women for Climate Change Adaptation” were jointly organised by GWP South Asia, GWP-India and WAPCOS Ltd at the recently concluded India Water Week 2013 held in New Delhi, India. Both events witnessed a large number of participants and lively panel discussions. The South Asia Climate Resiliency and Water Security Programme (WAter and Climate REsilience Programme – WACREP) was also launched as part of the Regional Day.