The Goascoran River basin is shared by Honduras and El Salvador and is of great environmental, economical and geopolitical importance. In 2006, action was taken to create a multi-sector instance to integrate, influence and coordinate sustainable management of the shared basin. This experience is of great value for IWRM, as the management group establishes a model of work for transboundary management.
We would like to collect feedback from those of you who use GWP’s IWRM ToolBox to learn what needs to be improved and how.
GWP Southern Africa has participated in national and international dialogues focusing on water in the post 2015 development agenda. The dialogues form part of the UN national dialogue (post Rio +20) process which will feed into the development of the UN post 2015 Sustainable Development Goal(s).
To implement policy change is a process that takes time. During this time, it is possible that the people involved change, resulting in a loss of knowledge. In Malawi, action was taken to combat institutional memory loss by involving as many high-level decision-makers as possible and by organising awareness raising workshops. This demonstrates that it is possible to avoid the loss of knowledge when key decision and policy-makers change.
El Salvador has experienced an increased vulnerability due to Climate Change. To tackle the challenges, an Early Warning System has been installed. This is part of the strategy of the local government to reduce the vulnerability and develop the capacity of the area to deal with floods and landslides. One lesson learnt is that political stability in an area is a great asset when carrying out any political reform.
El Cerrito Canton community has spent decade attempting to get access to clean water. Action was taken to organise a Community Development Association, leading to the execution of a potable water project. The key insight drawn from this case is that, it is key for communities to have water access and management is their capacity to get organised.
Each year, the Global Water Partnership (GWP) holds its Consulting Partners (CP) Meeting, where it brings together all its Regional Water Partnerships (RWPs) and partners from more than 160 countries. The Meeting offers a consultative approach in which Partners recommend actions to be taken that are fundamental to the operation of the GWP network.
In Central America there are 23 transboundary basins which represent approximately 36.9% of the territory. But in most there are no joint agreements for their management. That is why GWP Nicaragua and the Latin American Water Tribunal (TLA) coordinated the regional forum, "Water in Central America: Opportunities for conflict resolution."