The CEPF funded Act4Drin project and the GEF/UNDP/GWP-Med project 'Enabling transboundary cooperation and integrated water resources management in the extended Drin River Basin' (GEF Drin Project) are joining forces to raise public awareness about the natural wealth and legacy of the Drin River Basin on the occasion of Drin Day 2016.
On July 1, 2016, Dr. Oyun Sanjaasuren assumes the role of new Chair of the Global Water Partnership (GWP): "I think those who set up GWP 20 years ago - the people, organisations, governments - were very visionary and had good foresight. It is only more recently that water and water governance gained wider understanding and support”. Dr. Oyun says that now is a crucial time for GWP to influence the global development agenda.
The largest inner delta area with an almost natural status left in the entire Upper Danube Valley rests in the Szigetköz Region, Hungary. The Danube’s natural landscape in this area was characterized by continuously changing dead branches and side arms, beds changing their location, deteriorating and building islands and alluvial cones. As a result, the ecological environment and human settlements of the area were consistently destabilized. In 2011, the North-Transdanubian Water Directorate (EDUVIZIG) started a water infrastructure project entitled the “Ecological development of water supply system in the protected site and floodplain areas of Szigetköz”. This project shares valuable experience on how to restore the natural ecosystem while securing provision of drinking water and irrigation and enhancing flood protection mechanisms.