The World Water Forum, held every three years, is the world’s biggest water-related event, contributing to the dialogue of decision-makers on water at the global level, building political commitment and triggering action on critical water issues. The Mediterranean water community has traditionally been very active at the World Water Forum, voicing core messages and highlighting experiences from the region. This contribution has been concretized through a dedicated Mediterranean Preparatory Process. The 8th World Water Forum took place this year (18-23 March, Brasilia, Brazil) under the overarching theme “Sharing Water” and its more than 300 sessions were attended by 10,600 participants.
The Executive Secretary of GWP-WA, Mr. Armand HOUANYE, on a working visit to Togo, met on 19 February 2019 with national partners to discuss the revitalization of the Togo Country Water Partnership (CWP Togo).
In December 2018, the draft Volta Basin Water Charter was validated by the main stakeholders of the basin at a regional workshop attended by the Togolese Water Sector Authorities, VBA and GEF national focal points from VBA member countries, technical and financial partners.
The Global Water Partnership Southern Africa and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) facilitated a Southern African Development Community (SADC)– Water Division and Climate Services Centre (CSC) collaboration with the Green Climate Fund in Phase IV of the SADC- Hydrological Cycle Observing System (HYCOS) project. The collaboration was in the form of a workshop that involved the preparation of a regional proposal to enhance the Hydrological Cycle Observing System, DRR and climate information services in the region, including scope and targeted impacts. The workshop was held on 22nd March 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The GWP Steering Committee met at the global GWP secretariat in Stockholm, Sweden, on 11-13 June to discuss GWP's new strategy, governance reform, and knowledge and learning. The Committee acts as a Board of Directors and meets twice a year. While here, a few members shared stories on where they’ve seen water resources management work well for development.
The ECOWAS/WRCC accompanied the countries sharing the Comoé, Bia and Tanoé river basins (Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire) in the process of establishing a common authority.
The Technical Workshop on Project Preparation - Transformative Climate Resilience Water Project Concepts in Asia will be held from 15-17 October at Asian Development Bank (ADB) - Headquarters, Manila, Philippines.
The new GWP website was launched on 22 March. The new features at the launch were much-improved search functions for news, events, and knowledge. Now we are pleased to introduce one more search function – one of the most asked-for features: a new and improved GWP Partner Search.
A 3-day conference on water security through rain water harvesting will be held on 27-29 November in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The aim is provide a multidisciplinary platform for practitioners and professionals to discuss the innovations, trends, and concerns to enhance water security through rain water harvesting.
