A large proportion of Brazil’s population is lacking access to water and sanitation, and development is slow, in particular in rural areas due to lack of funds and political will, but also due to inefficiency in the resources allocation. Action has been taken by the State of Ceará to implement the model called Integrated Rural Water Supply and Sanitation System, illustrating that the most important component of attaining sustainable management is user participation.
To improve the state of the Balikpapan Bay coastal ecosystem, a coastal zone management project was initiated. After initial project failure, action was taken for policy reform and an adaptive management approach was developed, focusing on inter-agency integration. This case illustrates the importance of active project learning and adaptive management.
The Municipality of Talcahuano because of rapid urbanisation is subjected to natural resource degradation. Action was taken and a municipal strategy was created, assigning the municipality as the institution in charge of administering and combating natural resource degradation. This case illustrates the appropriateness of the municipal level of government in successfully addressing the recovery of water resources and environmental management.
The Lempa River is shared by Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, making its management a good example of transboundary cooperation. To reach consensus, action was taken to develop a treaty as part of a regional process. However, since the treaty was not accompanied by strategies designed by local actors, it is somewhat weak. Nonetheless, this case illustrates that political willingness is crucial for advancing towards IWRM in transboundary watersheds.
Michael Mutale from Zambia is the first ever winner of the UNESCO-IHE Alumni Award 2013. Mr. Mutale has been involved with GWP since its early days in 1996, and was instrumental in setting up many of GWP’s projects in Southern Africa.
The Policy Dialogue in the framework of the joint GWP-Med and OECD Project on Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector held its second consultation workshop in Tunis on March 5, 2014.
Key stakeholders from within and outside Jordan’s water sector were brought together in Amman on the 5th of February in the framework of the Jordanian Policy Dialogue within the joint GWP-Med and OECD, UfM labelled Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector Programme.
The Mongolian Water Partnership (MWP) has formally decided to apply for GWP membership and create a Country Water Partnership on the national level, and to join the GWP Central Asia and Caucasus region (CACENA).
GWP’s Water, Climate and Development Programme for Africa (WACDEP), in collaboration with the UNDP-UNEP led National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP) recently arranged a Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop. The topic was the ‘Economics of Adaptation Water Security, and Climate Resilient Development’.