The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21) adopted a new climate agreement in Paris, France, on 12 December. GWP welcomes the landmark agreement, which was signed by nearly 200 countries, and is committed to support it.
Lebanon and Jordan are exploring the possibility of joining the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention). To assist the two countries in this process, UNECE and the Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean (GWP-Med), with financial support provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), have organised national workshops to increase awareness and understanding of relevant stakeholders of the different legal and institutional frameworks for cooperation on shared waters resources, the specificities of the UNECE Water Convention, in comparison to the UN Watercourses Convention, as well as the complementarity of the two agreements.
A review meeting on the 1st draft manuscript on the “Limpopo River Basin: Atlas of Our Changing Environment” took place in Johannesburg, South Africa on 23rd and 24th June, 2016. The planned outputs were met, as participants were able to discuss and strengthen the content; strengthen the visual impact of the atlas and identity case studies and hotspots. By the end of the meeting, the manuscript drafting team agreed to the comments submitted by participants which would once completed improve the content of the atlas and make it easy for planners to put to use.
Lake Jipe is facing a number of environmental and management problems which if not addressed, might lead to the disappearance of the lake. These problems include siltation, soil erosion, recurring droughts leading to shrinking fishery, deforestation, reduced lake run off, overgrazing and invasive waterweeds. The Lake Jipe Basin Integrated Management Plan (2009-2014) was developed in a consultation with various stakeholders including government, civil society, private sector and the local communities.
The 21st Regional Council (RC) Meeting of Global Water Partnership South Asia (GWP SAS) was held on 7 and 8 October 2015 in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Malaysian Water Partnership, in collaboration with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (DID), conducted the Stakeholder Forum for Incorporating Climate Resilience in the National Water Resources Policy Action Plans on the 27th and 28th of October 2014. This activity was a response to the launch of Malaysia’s National Water Resources Policy on 24 March 2012 which recognized climate change as an important issue to be addressed in the policy formulation. This forum was attended by 90 people from 40 institutions.
Tanzania from 11-13 March kick-starts the Southern African Development Community (SADC) National Consultations to be held in all the 15 SADC member states. The consultations, to be held under the theme “From Vision to Action”, will provide a platform for (SADC) to engage and interact with the various stakeholders in mapping the strategic direction of the regional water resources management, SADC will be undertaking national consultations in the SADC Water Weeks within 15 of the SADC member countries. In each country, the platform will be provided through three main activities (media training, a youth forum and a national consultation). The national consultations are being facilitated by the SADC secretariat and implemented by GWP SA through the Country Water Partnerships (CWPs). Additionally, each consultation is being hosted by the ministry responsible for water in each country.
The First High Level Ministerial Panel on Responding to Climate and Environmental Challenges in South East Europe (SEE) took place on 1st April 2016, in Podgorica, in the framework of the South East Europe Strategy 2020 and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).