GWP SA, on behalf of SADC is currently making preparations for the forthcoming SADC Water Weeks which have been slated from April – October 2014. The SADC Water Weeks are aimed at ensuring that the Regional Water Programme is well understood and embraced by stakeholders from various sectors at the national level. The SADC Water Weeks were last held in the year 2000 and led to the development of the SADC Water Vision for Water, Life and the Environment
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has a unique global water information system, AQUASTAT, developed since 1993 by the Land and Water Division. The main objective of the programme is to systematically select the most reliable information on hydrological resources and water use in each country, as well as to make this information available in a standard format for interested global, regional and national users.
GWP SA was invited to join about twenty other stakeholders in a discussion convened by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) Brownbag. The discussion was held on 27th November 2013 to converse food insecurity in Southern Africa. The brown bag represents an effort to engage stakeholders to dialogue in order to address deeper problems – focusing on changing underlying policy, legislation and practice, rather than on short-term welfarest interventions. The discussion was moderated by Masego Madzwamuse, the Economic Justice Programme Manager at OSISA.
GWP SA is a collaborating partner of the WaterNet/ WARFSA/ GWP SA Symposium. The 14th WaterNet Symposium was held on 30th October to 1st November 2013 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The theme of this year’s WaterNet Symposium was “Transboundary Water Cooperation: Building Partnerships”.
Capacity development at transboundary and national levels is urgently required to enhance local technical, analytical and institutional capacity for climate resilient development. This is a key pillar of the WACDEP and NAPs process. Investment planning for climate resilient development needs to be informed by sound economic analysis of adaptation. In collaboration with AMCOW, CDKN, UNDP-GEF, CapNet and GWP, a Capacity Development Initiative on Economics of Adaptation, Water Security and Climate Resilient Development is implemented in Africa.
The Country Water Partnerships invited to take part in the inaugural session of the Steering Committee meeting of GWP met with the Regional Secretariat and the Network Officers in the afternoon of November 25. This was an opportunity to review the latest version of the GWP 2014-2019 Strategy and GWP West Africa 2014-2016 Work Programme as well as initiatives and opportunities that may be of some interest to CWPs.
The Country Water Partnership of Burkina Faso (CWP Burkina) has supported the establishment of the Local Water Committee of the Massili (CLE- Massili ) to help in a shared vision for the management of resource water in this sub basin of the Nakanbé River. This action was made possible as part of the collaboration with the Nakanbé Water Agency (AEN).
Dr. Beatrice Mosello, from the Overseas Development Institute, shares her experience of the recent Water, Climate Development Programme training workshop in Addis Ababa, and her optimism for the integration of water security and climate resilience into development planning in Africa.
Karen Sutherland, CDKN Project Manager at SouthSouthNorth, gives an overview of the AMCOW Capacity Building Programme and feedback from a workshop in Kigali to test the on-the-job training materials that will form the basis of the programme
This spring the University of Manchester will offer a new Massive Online Open-Access Course (MOOC) on water and sanitation policy in developing countries. The course starts May 26th and is free and open to everyone. The GWP Technical Committee has endorsed this MOOC.