From 29th to 30th September, 2015 the meeting of the “Taskforce” for the development of central Africa regional hdyro-meteorological strategy was held in Douala, Cameroon. It was organized by the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in collaboration with GWP-CAf.
In addition to ECCAS and GWP-CAf’s experts, the meeting was attended by national experts in meteorology and hydrology from Cameroon, Congo, Chad, DR Congo, Gabon and Sao Tomé é Principe as well as representatives of UNESCO and Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC).
The “Taskforce” meeting planned during a working visit conducted by GWP-CAf to Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in July 2015, enabled experts to better understand the regional hydrometeorological strategy elaboration process and approve the regional synthesis report of baseline studies for National Hydrological and Meteorological Services conducted in six (6) pilot countries in Central Africa. The road map for the development of regional hydro meteorological services strategy in Central Africa was also discussed and approved.
A three-day National Adaptation Plan (NAP) training workshop was held from the 3rd to 5th of September in Salima, Malawi as an effort to help the Government of Malawi identify the next steps in establishing a NAP process. The workshop was highly interactive drawing upon a broad range of climate sensitive sectors and stakeholders, and was successful in reaching its overall objectives of building an understanding of the NAP process and to draft a roadmap for country level advancement.
In September, the United Nations will finalise a Post-2015 Development Agenda known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs follow and expand on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which expire at the end of the year and will be “the global community’s plan of action” for all dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) for the next fifteen (15) years.
The States of the world will make two fundamental decisions in 2015:
- In September, they will set their strategic priorities for the next 15 years through the post 2015 Agenda;
- In December, they will finalize in Paris their climate roadmap during the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21).
Interview with Jnoel Eya from L'association Génération Eau Claire in Libreville, Gabon.
In the run up to the World Water Day 2016, GWP-CAf partners, like Cameroon Ministry of water and energy, private sector, NGOs and civil society organizations, organized the national water week 2016, in Yaoundé, which had as theme “water and jobs” and took place over seven days, from March 17-22, 2016.
Several events took place during the national week. Among which, there was a media workshop; two site visits, conducted, one to the wastewater treatment plant and the other to water treatment plant; a campaign for the dissemination of knowledge and legal text on water sector and sanitation; an exhibition fair; football and power walking and a forum on water jobs. All of these activities ended with a competition for a best poem written and cartoon on “water and jobs” for pupils of 5 schools in Yaounde.
Α Regional Roundtable & a Working Meeting on “Water, Food, Energy and Environment Nexus in South East Europe” were organized by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean (GWP-Med) and Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), in cooperation with the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Global Environment Facility (GEF) International Waters: Learning Exchange and Resources Network (IW:LEARN) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
Thirty participants from 5 Middle East & Nortnern Africa (MENA) countries - Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia - gathered in Tunisia, on 8-19 February 2015, in a course held in the framework of the 4-year MENA Integrated Sustainable Coastal Development Training Programme (MENA ISCD), financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and jointly implemented by NIRAS Natura AB and the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med).
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.