Global Water Partnership Southern Africa attended training on the application of Environmental Flows in the management of transboundary river basins in Southern Africa, with a special focus on the Pungwe River Basin. The training which brought together about 20 participants was an IUCN initiative and was held from 30th November to 3rd December in Cape Town, South Africa. The main parties involved were the government representatives of both Mozambique and Zimbabwe who share the river Basin and therefore needed to come together and agree on the Environmental Flows requirements to ensure equitable socio-economic development and growth.
GWP held a press briefing at the UNFCCC COP20 conference in Lima, Peru, on Tuesday 9 December. The delegates reiterated the GWP network’s firm support of a dedicated water goal on the post-2015 development agenda. The Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) was highlighted as an important tool to combat water related problems in connection with climate change.
The Chair of Senegal CWP and three members of the steering committee took part in the various activities related to the celebration of the World Water Day in the countries. The official ceremonies took place in Saint Louis this year. The CWP contributed in finalizing the official communications that were delivered in addition to contributing to the panel discussions. The scientific panel took place on the topic “Water and Employment” and presided by the Minister of Hydraulics and Sanitation, Mr. Mansour FAYE. Two communications were made on the topic one covering national data and the second one reflecting local situation.
A meeting was held on October 27, 2015 in the conference room of GWP West Africa to discuss issues related to the establishment of the regional platform for stakeholders on drought management in the region. During this second meeting a presentation was made on various tools that could be used to ease communication between members of the platform before and when it is set up. Among these tools were social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), Google communication tools, Yammer, etc.
From 22- 23 October 2015, the Global Water Partnership Eastern Africa (GWPEA) conducted a regional workshop themed “ Role of the media in promoting water security, climate resilience and drought risk management”. The workshop was attended by 15 media practitioners from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti.