The Ghana Country Water Partnership (CWP-Ghana) has held the validation meeting for the report on the study entitled “Impacts and Vulnerability assessment of Climate Change in the Upper East Region of Ghana and pathways to Creating Green Solutions and Integrating Climate-Smart Interventions into development Planning”. The program took place at the SSNIT conference room at Bolgatanga on 17th July, 2014 and was chaired by Mr Aduna from the White Volta Basin Office (WVB).
GWP-WA and IUCN / PACO Media capacity building Workshop: natural and human imbalances impact on sustainable development in mining areas
Mining in West Africa while contributing to economic and social development of the countries, disrupts the natural and human balance raising questions about the risk it poses to the future life of communities living near mining sites. This is the observation made by a group of journalists from West and central Africa participing in a subregional media capacity building workshop , co-organized by the West and Central Africa Programme of the IUCN (IUCN / PACO) and the Global Water Partnership for West Africa (GWP / WA). The meeting held from 1 to 5 October 2012 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on the theme "Mining and the Protection of environment and natural resources in West Africa.
The Meuse and the Scheldt river basins are subjected to pollution and seasonal water shortages, as well as political clash of interests regarding maritime access. Action was taken to solve these issues by the Belgian government. However, although an agreement was eventually made, political issues made the process complex. From this case, it is apparent that a cross-sectoral approach that looks beyond the water sector is often instrumental in developing attractive package deals.
Australia implemented a series of reforms to the water sector in the State of Queensland, including the use of a ‘whole of river basin’ strategic plan approach within which local resource operation plans are prepared and implemented. The key lesson learnt is that an incremental approach, with water planning developing in “bite-sized chunks” allowed government to be flexible in response to changing circumstances.
GWP Armenia and GWP Turkmenistan have conducted several projects focused on schools. The purpose is to engage more young people in water resources management.
The Danube region is characterised by long-term cooperation. One of the most important agreements was the Danube River Protection Convention, created with an intention of intensifying cooperation in the field of water protection and water use between countries in the Danube basin. Under auspices of this convention, the Joint Danube Survey was launched. This case demonstrates the importance of collecting data to assess how to move forward with any project.
An academic training programme in view for mid-career professionals
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.
The conclusions of a second round of national stakeholder consultations on water urge the global community to include a dedicated water goal within the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.