On March 31st 2014, the Costa Rican Congress passed the new Water Law. For over a decade the Central American countries have been working on reforming their water legislative and institutional frameworks, and one of the pioneers in this process has been Costa Rica.
An expanded GWP Technical Committee (TEC) meeting took place 29-30 August in Stockholm, bringing together 35 participants and experts selected by the GWP regional partnerships. GWP Executive Secretary Dr. Ania Grobicki encouraged the participants to work as “One GWP”.
A series of activities called The Great Walk for Water initiated by some NGOs will be held from 22 February to 22 March 2015 to draw the World attention on the future "disappearance" of Lake Chad, if nothing is done. This great walk for water is a media caravan, actions and multidisciplinary activities to advocate for an increased attention on the situation of National and International Watercourses in Africa in general and especially the Lake Chad.
Mr Iswer Raj Onta, Regional Chair Global Water Partnership South Asia (GWP SAS) (2013-2015), passed away on Sunday, 6 March 2016. The entire GWP Network is saddened by his departure and it is a great loss to the South Asia Region.
The 5th Africa Water Week (AWW5) takes place in Dakar, Senegal on 26 to 31 May 2014. The event is convened by the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) in conjunction with the African Union Commission and organised with other development partners. GWP is involved in a number of activities.
The government of Lao PDR is working very constructively to improve the water resources planning and management system in Lao PDR especially in the formal higher education system.
Through the Lao Water Partnership, Mr. Chanthanet Boualapha, Director General of Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment who acts as chairperson of Lao Water Partnership opened the consultation on mainstreaming the IWRM in the formal higher education system. He expressed on the important of IWRM progress and application in Laos context for a decade as well as capacity building on this field. He also addressed the importance of the strengthening the local capacity in the whole country for IWRM decentralization and human resource development including emphasizing on integration and mainstreaming IWRM /IRBM approach into education system in each level.
The Roundtable on Flood Control and Adapting Measures for Economic Development in Flood Plain for Lower Reaches of Yellow River was held on October 23, 2014, in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. The event was organized by GWP China Yellow River and Yellow River Research Association with the support by GWP China. Over 50 participants from Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC), research institutions, Henan and Ningxia Provincial Flood Control and Drought Relief Offices, universities attended the roundtable. Mr. Zheng Rugang, Secretary General and Coordinator of GWP China Region, gave a welcome speech.
A delegation from GWP is travelling to Sendai, Japan, to take part in the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) on 14-18 March. GWP will co-lead a working session on “Integrated Water Resources Management” together with WMO and UNESCO.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched its new project “Mega-cities and their Watersheds: Nature-based Solutions for Sustainable Drinking Water Sources” on November 26, 2013 in Beijing.