Zagreb, 3 July 2015. Today, the ICPDR Stakeholder Conference “Voice of the Danube” has convened in the Croatian capital. Over 80 stakeholders from a broad range of backgrounds stood the heat and expressed their views on the draft management plans for the Danube River.
This article is part of a wider coverage of the “MENA Focus” events, a set of four regional sessions dedicated to the Middle East & North Africa, officially launched at the Stockholm World Water Week 2016, alongside the Regional Days for Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) had been selected and serves as the overall coordinator for these “MENA Focus” events. The sessions were organized in partnership with a number of international regional institutions and organisations. “Seeking answers to the MENA water crisis” was the first out of the four sessions, held on the 30th of August.
The 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) took place in Sendai, Japan, 14-18 March. The planned outputs were met, with the announcement of a Declaration and a new Outcome Document to replace the Hyogo Framework for Action; the UN's previous disaster risk reduction deal, which expires in 2015.
The Executive Secretary of GWP, Rudolph Cleveringa, says that GWP as a network needs to change: “We can’t use the same agenda as we did 20 years ago”. Approaching World Water Day 2016, Cleveringa takes a moment to reflect on GWP’s 20 years in the water world and talks about his vision on how to make the network fit for the future – local inclusion and diversity are words he uses to make his point.
Building up from previous awareness raising activities organized in the framework of the youth initiative run by the Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean (GWP-Med) in Tunisia aimed at making the youth’s voice heard in water resources management and climate change adaptation, and putting more emphasis on the potential of interactive games for awareness raising among youth audiences, a two-day training was organized on Aqua Republica Serious Game by the NGO “Recherche en Action” (REACT), in collaboration with the NGO “Tunisian Education and Resource Network” (TEARN).
The beauty and wilderness of Danube floodplains was continuously deteriorated by human impacts. Construction of the Gabcikovo water dam caused direct clearance of minimum 2,500 ha of floodplain forests and influence of water regime of other areas. A regional NGO BROZ located in Slovakia, has developed a project for EU funding scheme LIFE. The project aims to preserve last remaining natural floodplain forests in Slovak part of the Danube floodplain and to introduce sound, sustainable forest management in the area. As a result, a Sustainable Forest Management Strategy has been elaborated to give a base for new forest management plans.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature Central Africa and West African Programme (IUCN/ PACO) as part of its program "Partnership for environmental Governance in West Africa (PAGE)", Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP / WA ) and the Regional Partnership for the Conservation of coastal and marine zone in West Africa (PRCM) as part of their respective work programs are launching the third edition of the "Water and Environment" media contest.
On 27-28 November 2014 the Global Forum on Environment: "New Perspective on the Water-Energy-Food-Nexus" was held in the OECD headquarters in Paris.