The Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) has established a formal agreement with the Department for Planning and Conservation of Agricultural Lands at the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture towards integrating climate change considerations in water and soil conservation planning, under the WACDEP (Water, Climate & Development) Programme; and in this context, it has entered a very fruitful collaboration with the Ministry, as well as the Regional Department for Agriculture in Bizerte, in Tunisia’s North, using the Douimis Basin in the Bizerte Region as a pilot for the development of the climate change mainstreaming methodology.
As part of the implementation of the GWP Gender Strategy, a workshop for 24 rural women on the installation and maintenance of a rainwater harvesting system as an alternative to water scarcity recently took place in Honduras. Participants included women who had previous experience in water management and who are leaders in their communities, NGOs, or work in a municipality.
The United Nations’ (UN) International Women’s Day is observed on March 8th each year. It’s a day to “celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women.”
Drinking water supply of the Rabat-Casablanca coastal area has depended on water transfers from groundwater. Estimates showed that transfers would have to be extended to include surface water, if water requirements were to be met, requiring water transfer together with investments in production, distribution and sanitation. A policy initiative was undertaken to address the issue. The key lesson is that integration of water demand management in water policies is effective for strengthening water security.
A new Global Water Partnership (GWP) Perspectives Paper draws attention to the adverse effects that some increasing block tariff regimes have on development. (We welcome your comments at: paperontariffs@gwp.org.)