Côte d’Ivoire is situated by the coast of the North Atlantic Ocean, bordering Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Guinea and Liberia. It has a tropical climate along the coast and semiarid in the far north. Its climate can be divided into three seasons: warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), hot and wet (June to October). The country is very rich in natural resources and has large reserves of, among others, petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, cobalt, gold, coffee and palm oil.
Caribbean Ministers with responsibility for water, along with regional water managers and other experts, met to discuss “Water Management Financing in the Caribbean” at the GWP Caribbean and the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association’s (CWWA) 7th Annual High Level Session (HLS) on October 6-7, 2011, in Guadeloupe. One of the major issues at the Ministerial Forum was the need for regional governments to decide whether water utilities are to be run as a social service or a business.
In May, GWP Cambodia launched a report on river basin management in Asia together with the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and the Cambodia National Mekong Committee, outlining results from a 4-year programme, including an investment roadmap for water and related development. The report, which will serve as a case study for the application of IWRM in Cambodia, is available in Khmer or English and can be ordered on the GWP Cambodia website.
The GWPO Network Officer Mr. Bjorn Guterstam, accompanied by GWP CEE Chair Mr. Liviu Nicolae Popescu, presented the statement on behalf of observer organizations to ICPDR at the Ministerial Meeting on 16 February in Vienna, Austria. At the meeting, Ministers endorsed detailed actions for environmental protection in the Danube River Basin.
In November 2010, GWP Sri Lanka organised a Climate Change Adaptation National Dialogue, a joint activity with the Centre for Climate Change Studies of the Department of Meteorology, the Disaster Management Centre, and the Ministry of Disaster Management. The Dialogue was a follow up to two earlier activities undertaken with respect to the Southern and North Central Provinces of Sri Lanka.
The new State Water Policy of Rajasthan, the largest state in India by area, puts the emphasis on two components: an integrated water resources management approach and the efficient working of Water User Groups (WUG). During 2010, GWP India with the support of its Northern Zone Water Partner, organized two workshops for the capacity building of NGOs involved in the implementation of the new policy.
The Challenge Programme for Water and Food (CPWF) research in the Volta basin has been developed to respond to challenges in the river basin of “improving rainwater and small reservoir management to contribute to poverty reduction, and improved livelihoods resilience in Burkina Faso and Northern Ghana while taking account of implications for downstream water users including ecosystem services”.
Recognised as the most appropriate platform in the region, GWP Central Asia and Caucasus (CACENA) was asked by the Uzbek Ministry of Agriculture and Water to co-organize an international conference in Tashkent as part of the process leading up to the 6th World Water Forum in 2012. GWP CACENA also led a session on integrated water resources management.
In November 2010, GWP Sri Lanka organised a Climate Change Adaptation National Dialogue, a joint activity with the Centre for Climate Change Studies of the Department of Meteorology, the Disaster Management Centre, and the Ministry of Disaster Management. The Dialogue was a follow up to two earlier activities undertaken with respect to the Southern and North Central Provinces of Sri Lanka.