The Integrated Drought Management Project in West Africa (IDMP-WAF) was officially launched at the workshop held on 28 and 29 January 2015 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Forty participants including 4 women, mainly from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, Sweden, Switzerland and representing regional (CILSS, ECOWAS) and international organizations (ACMAD, WMO and GWPO) took part in this meeting placed under the patronage of the Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources, Sanitation and Food Security of Burkina Faso.
River Indio’s watershed is the source of water supply for the growing demand in the metropolitan area of Panamá. However, due to extensive human activity and mismanagement the area has been affected by extensive deterioration. Action has been taken to reinforce natural resources restoration and water resources conservation, grounded in government strenthening and integrated management. Important lessons can be drawn from this in terms of IWRM, as it sets a clear example of active participation of the communities and the local authorities.
The Ghana Country Water Partnership (CWP-Ghana) has held the validation meeting for the report on the study entitled “Review of National Policies, Strategies and Programmes in the context of Water Security and Climate Resilience in Ghana”. This was done in collaboration with the Water Resources Commission (WRC) and the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).
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 topic of World Water Day 2015 is Water and Sustainable Development. GWP CEE took active part in the global GWP campaign In Support of a Dedicated Water Goal in collaboration with UN-Water, to raise awareness of the links between Water and Sustainable Development.
Right at the heart of Namibia, “the land of the brave”, in the capital Windhoek was the venue for the 7th SADC Multi- stakeholder Water Dialogue held from the 29th to the 30th of September, 2015. Held under the theme, “Watering Development in SADC: The central role of water in driving industrialization” the dialogue was attended by 150 delegates from across the region representing the water sector, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), cooperating and development partners, academia, the media, and other relevant stakeholders from non-water entities (energy, agriculture, industrialization). The delegates, of which a good number were youth were brought together to deliberate the role that water will play in driving industrialization in the region.