On the occasion of the 10th Meeting of the Parties (MOP 10) to the Water Convention from 23 to 25 October 2024 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the Global Water Partnership in West Africa (GWP-WA), the West African Economic and Monetary Union Commission (WAEMU), the Pôle Eau Dakar, Secretariat of the Water Convention and the United Nations Environment Programme - DHI Centre (UNEP-DHI), FAO co-organised a side event on the theme of ‘Implementing the Convention and promoting integrated water resources management through national and regional action’.
This process, initiated by the Cameroon government in 2023, has been supported by several technical and financial partners, including the World Bank, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) and GWP Central Africa (GWP-CAf). After nine sessions of the working group set up for this purpose by the Ministry of Water and Energy (MINEE), the latter organized 2 working sessions with all stakeholders in the water sector from March 25 to 27, 2024 and from May 28 to 31, 2024 in Mbankomo, Yaounde.
The participants made a field trip which took them to the Tanguiéta town hall for exchanges with the mayor, Mr. BOUKARY Zakari, the different beneficiary communities of the TFTC 2 and WACDEP-G projects, the handing over of materials and equipment and a visit to some of the youth and women's action sites in the framework of the project.
Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe, as a partner of the EU Horizon 2020 OPTAIN project, organized its 2023 Summer School for 21 selected MSc and PhD students and graduates, working in the field of water management. The selected students represented the countries of Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Iran, Kosovo, Lithuania, Norway, Philippines, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
The Asia Pacific Water Scarcity Programme (WSP) has been implementing core activities in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam over the past year. FAO is bringing together all technical stakeholders involved in the WSP for a Regional Technical Workshop on Water Scarcity to take stock of progress, review the WSP approach, and gain stakeholder insights on the best ‘way forward.’
The governments of Angola and Namibia have officially endorsed and kickstarted the implementation of a joint transboundary water project titled "Enhanced Water Security and Community Resilience in the Adjacent Cuvelai and Kunene Transboundary River Basins." This initiative aims to address the pressing challenges of water scarcity, floods, and droughts in the Cuvelai and Kunene River Basins.
GWPEA is implementing the “Strengthening Drought Resilience for Smallholder Farmers and Pastoralists in the IGAD Region (DRESS-EA) Project in four Riparian countries of Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda. The project, which is undertaken in collaboration with the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) aims at increasing the resilience of smallholder farmers and pastoralists to climate change risks mainly those related to drought, through the establishment of appropriate early warning systems and implementation of drought adaptation actions in the IGAD region.
World Water Day, held on 22 March every year, is an annual United Nations Observance focusing on the importance of freshwater, raising awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. The theme of World Water Day 2024 is ‘Water for Peace’.
