A special day session was organized on May 5, 2015 just before the Partners meeting held on 7 and 8 May 2015 in Cotonou, Benin. The session aimed at all the representatives of Country Water Partnerships (CWP) invited for the Assembly of Partners but focused mainly on countries where the three projects are being carried out: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Niger.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, good quality of water has become increasingly scarce. Action was taken and a project was initiated with the objective of conserving water quality and increasing water use efficiency in agriculture. The case illustrates the importance of involving farmers and other water users initially, so that they feel a sense of responsibility and motivation to introduce new approaches.
Given the importance of WRCC in coordinating water resource management in West Africa in particular and that of ECOWAS generally politically and economically, and because of the many joint initiatives underway, GWP / WA met with the Director of WRCC, Ibrahim Babatunde WILSON. The GWP delegation led by its Chair, Prof. Afouda, included the Executive Secretary and the Mekrou and IDMP projects officers.
The two organizations raised a number of initiatives underway at GWP / WA of which WRCC is an integral part, including the Mekrou project, IDMP, or those in which the WRCC should take the lead like the initiative on the regional dialogue on the joint management of shared aquifers in West Africa.
The Limpopo River Basin (LRB) which has a total population of 18 million with 15 million in South Africa, 1.2 in Botswana, 1.1 million people in Mozambique, 0.8 million in Zimbabwe is prone to natural disasters as a result of climate change. Therefore, on the 24th of November, 2015, Resilience in the Limpopo Basin Program (RESILIM) in partnership with Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP SA) undertook an in-country consultation workshop on the development of the Limpopo River Basin Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Action Plan.
Luke Smith, a Trinidadian graduate student at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine Campus, has claimed the top spot in the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) Media Awards on Water 2015 – Video Competition.
The Executive Secretary during his stay in Dakar met with the new chair of the Senegal CWP, Mr. Antoine Diokel THIAW and cangratulated him for his designation as chair. They had discussions on the future actions of the CWP. The Steering and Scientific Committees are yet to be established and an invitation will be sent to partners for a meeting to establish these bodies. Project templates will be developed in order to link with on going initiatives in the country and allow the CWP’s functioning.
The Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) is hosting a three (3) day national training workshop in St. Lucia on December 7th – 9th, 2015 entitled “Building Climate Resilience in the Caribbean Water Sector: An Integrated Water Resources Management Approach.”