On September 21 to 25, 2015, GWP China RWP, Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial People's Congress, GWP China Shaanxi PWP and Water Resources Department of Shaanxi Province conducted a on-site survey under the framework of “WACDEP: Investment on Water” to collect the data and information on implementation of national and provincial investment on water projects, particularly on small irrigation areas and rural drinking water security. The “last Km” refers to the full completion of the irrigation structures invested by the national/provincial budgets; the final beneficiaries of the water projects in rural areas are farmers. The issue of “last Km” aims at achieving the best social benefits that can reflect the publicity, fairness, response and effectiveness of policies.
The farmers in the Volta river basin generally rely on rain-fed agriculture. However, insufficient or irregular rainfall frequently puts farmers at risk of losing their crops. Farmers must have access to a reliable water supply to sustain their livelihoods. In line with the problems highlighted, the Challenge Program on Water and Food (CPWF) set out to find ways to strengthen the capacity of the famers, communities and other stake holders in the basin. As a lesson learnt, it is reasonable to expect stakeholders to adopt improved agricultural practices if such new practices are of their own benefit. Experiences show that stakeholders will only participate in innovation platform meetings when they see the value of doing so.
The World Bank has conducted feasibility studies in order to offer input for the decision making process over the construction of the Rogun dam. This case study describes the impact of the World Bank feasibility report on the cooperation over transboundary water resources between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
The Cercle Elais Hotel in the Commune of Gombe in Kinshasa, DRC was a hive of the SADC Water week activities that ran from the 27th - 29th of April, 2015. This highly anticipated event was perceived as a big water celebration and brought together national stakeholders from a variety of sectors including civil societies, academic institutions and consumer associations. The programme started with the journalists training which was coupled with the youth forum in an attempt to provide the media practitioners with topic ideas on the challenges and realities faced by the young water professionals. The youth aged from 15 to 35 years old were representatives of various students associations, youth organisations and private companies.
This year’s World Water Day theme is “Water and Sustainable Development”. Preparatory work for celebrating the day is underway in several countries, with the main UN celebration taking place in New Delhi, India, on 20 March. Building up to the event, GWP’s #watergoal campaign has been stepped up.
The formulation of Zimbabwe’s National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) process that began in 2012 finally came to an end on 15th July, 2014 at a multi stakeholder meeting that brought together 62 participants from different Ministries, partner organisations and other relevant departments. A key milestone of this meeting was the adoption of the NCCRS by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate.
The International Conference "Water conservation and water use efficiency", organized by the Network of Water Organizations from Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (INBO-EECCA) took place on May 21, 2015 in Minsk.