The Danube region is characterised by long-term cooperation. One of the most important agreements is the Danube River Protection Convention, aiming to achieve sustainable and equitable water management. To achieve this, the Danubian countries have taken appropriate legal, administrative and technical measures to at least maintain and improve the ecological and water quality conditions. The main lesson learnt is that strong cooperation among all the involved parties is required.
Le continent africain possède le plus grand nombre de bassins fluviaux transfrontaliers qui, collectivement, couvrent 64% de la superficie de l’Afrique et contiennent un peu plus de 93% de ses ressources en eau de surface. Même si une ressource en eau partagée est source potentielle de conflits, elle représente également un immense potentiel en termes de croissance économique du continent africain où, par exemple, moins de 4% de l’eau disponible est utilisée et moins de 7% du potentiel hydroélectrique est développé.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat is implementing the SADC Regional Strategic Action Plan on IWRM – III (SADC RSAP III) which is designed to provide a programmatic approach to facilitate the implementation of the Protocol on Shared Watercourses through the application of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). GWP Southern Africa is an implementing partner for SADC providing programmatic support to the implementation of the RSAP III and is providing support to increasing engagement of stakeholders within the Phase III of the Transboundary Water Resources Management Programme.
The Zimbabwe Water Partnership (ZWP) was formed in May 2000. The Partnership is operating under the vision promoting a “Water Secure Zimbabwe through application of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) Principles”, and its’ mission is to support sustainable development and management of water resources at all levels in the country.
The Volta River basin remained one of the few unregulated transboundary watercourses in Africa. Action was taken to improve water governance and water management practices. Although this is still in progress, it has resulted in multi-scale participatory governance frameworks for joint management. From this process, it is evident that building a local knowledge base with good data and information systems is important in deciding the most efficient allocation of resources.
Caribbean Ministers with responsibility for water resources management, along with regional water managers and other experts were brought together to discuss “Water Management Financing in the Caribbean” at Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) and the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association’s (CWWA) 7th Annual High Level Session (HLS) on October 6th and 7th, 2011 in Guadeloupe.
The management of water resources in Bangladesh involves a centralised, heavy engineering approach in order to control floods and install irrigation, however, there is now a pressing need for ensuring social justice and equity in water resource development. Recognising the role of water in poverty alleviation, action has been taken to implement a 25-year National Water Management Plan. Although this is one important step, it is evident that many issues require more work.
To meet demand, the water sector of Lesotho is undertaking institutional reforms and tackling financial and technical constraints. Action was initiated through a study conducted in four phases including data collection, development options, financing strategy and integration of the findings. The project was carried out in through capacity building activities in cooperation with several stakeholders. Predominantly, this case study illustrates the importance of combining data from several authorities into one consistent format.