Search

On 26 March 2015, the Burundi CWP held its ordinary statutory general assembly meeting in Bujumbura to discuss several issues icluding review of  progress towards activity achievement for the year 2014 and strategy for the implementation of  Bu CWP’s Action Plan for the year 2015.

Name:                               Maria Amakali

Occupation:                     Director of Water Resources Management

Country:                          Namibia

Country of Work:           Namibia and SADC

What would you say are the main challenges in your work as a woman?

 

I started working as hydrologist in the Department of Water Affairs in the early nineties. I had studied in the US and was ready to come and work in a newly independent Namibia. My responsibilities included planning and execution of research and investigations regarding sustainable development of water resources; and providing advice on the effective utilization, protection and conservation of such resources. At a time I found a lot of males, in the department. Except for the two women scientist in Hydrology Division, most women were doing mostly secretarial or office administrative work. I remember one day standing outside, waiting for my ride home and this man came to me asking whose secretary I was. In an independent Namibia, I was quite shocked that the old stereotype mentality that women can only be secretaries still exists. Those days there were not many women or black hydrologists, but I was still offended.

 

The members of the Steering Committee of the Partnership for Environmental Governance in West Africa - PAGE met in Ouagadougou for the third session of the Committee on 8 February 2017. The meeting was meant to assess the progress made and make a prospective analysis of the program.

The Swaziland Water Youth Forum is an entity under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy, housed in the Department of Water Affairs. The forum was established during the SADC Water Week held in Swaziland last year. The forum has an action plan that includes raising awareness of the water sector among young people so as to enhance their participation in national development issues. 

The distribution of many rural communities in Brazil presents a major challenge in terms of providing access to energy. The production and consumption of energy can, however, have serious consequences for the natural environment. The energy sector in Brazil has been engaged in a process of ‘learning from mistakes'. One important lesson learnt is that establishing and maintaining a high-level policy consensus is key in achieving success. 

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) Sponsoring Partners have announced the appointment of Dr. Oyun Sanjaasuren as the new Chair of GWP, effective July 1, 2016. Dr. Oyun is a Member of Parliament of Mongolia, former Minister of Environment and Green Development, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs. She currently serves as President of the United Nations Environment Assembly of UNEP.

The establishment of the LWP was followed by a series of dysfunctions in some of them, resulting in difficulties for internal animation. Following a diagnosis that revealed the causes of these difficulties linked to the misunderstanding of how the network operates, some solutions are proposed with draft specifications.

The interdependence between Water, Energy and Food security (WEF) offers opportunities for stronger collaboration among the three sectors, thus increasing the strength of tackling the region’s developmental Agenda leading to the achievement of the SADC Goals of Peace and Stability, Regional Integration, Industrialisation and Poverty Eradication.

In the run-up to the World Water Day 2016, let’s become ambassadors for change. Let’s address water scarcity utilizing options beyond the conventional!