At the SADC Water Week in Mozambique held from 20-22 May, 2015, stakeholders discussed the challenging aspects of managing water resources in the country in view of Mozambique sharing a number of river basins with its neighbours. For instance, the supply of water for the river basins located in the southern part of the country is heavily dependent on the Basins of international rivers. The solution to this challenge was seen in Mozambique requiring to always adapt an integrated water resources management approach and having long-term cooperative arrangements with its neighbours to avoid water availability being a constraint on future growth.
The Government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development assured that the Malawi government is working hard to address the challenges rocking the water sector in the country. Malawi hosted the SADC national week whose focus is on mainstreaming gender in water issues. The event was held from 13-15 May, 2015 at Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe. The SADC Water Week, held under the theme “From Vision to Action” was attended by delegates from government ministries, civil society and the private sector.
A special day session was organized on May 5, 2015 just before the Partners meeting held on 7 and 8 May 2015 in Cotonou, Benin. The session aimed at all the representatives of Country Water Partnerships (CWP) invited for the Assembly of Partners but focused mainly on countries where the three projects are being carried out: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Niger.
After a brief and comprehensive analysis of the situation in the area of drought in West Africa, the IDMP continues approaches in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to conduct national reviews of initiatives, current or less than three (3) years plans and strategies in all three countries.
A workshop was held in Niamey on May 29, 2015 to validate the study on 'Analysis of the results of national consultations and elaboration of the preliminary proposal of the agreement on the establishment of the framework and coordinating mechanism for political dialogue in the Mekrou basin planning process ''.
This workshop brought together about 40 people who validated the document by highlighting the context of Niger.
Eighty representatives from a diversity of water–related sectors participated in an informative meeting, held on 22 May 2015 in La Paz, to learn about the advantages of establishing a Country Water Partnership (CWP) in Bolivia.
The GWP Technical Committee, in collaboration with the International Land Coalition (ILC) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), organized a workshop on the “Global Food Security Challenge through Coordinated Land and Water Governance”. The event took place 15-16 June in Pretoria, South Africa.
The Synthesis Report on Economically Water Insecure (EWI) Regions presents a documentation of the proceedings held at the 7th World Water Forum in April 2015. The report was prepared by GWP Senior Advisor Alan Hall, as Coordinator for the EWI sessions.
This session was organised by a partnership of five international organisations from four continents: African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Development Bank of Latin America, Global Water Partnership and K-Water.
As part of the Regional Process of the 7th World Water Forum in Gyeongju, a series of five sessions were held with a focus on EWI regions. The sessions brought together participants from four regions to share experiences and lessons from countries/regions facing similar water and economic constraints - without being constrained by traditional regional geographical boundaries.
The follow up will form part of the proposed SDG Initiative through which the poorest and most water insecure countries will be helped in the future work programme.
Access the Synthesis Report here.