In the race to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the role of small-scale WATSAN (water and sanitation) providers is indispensable. However, as this report "Small-scale finance for water and sanitation" claims, there is little awareness or cohesion among external support sgencies (ESAs), including EU donors, on the best way to increase financing for small-scale providers.
GWP Kyrgyzstan organized a workshop on 22-23 March 2013 in Bishkek for university lecturers to help them understand how to use the GWP IWRM ToolBox in education. Supported by the GWP global secretariat, the workshop was attended by 15 participants, mainly professors of the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University and the National Agrarian University in Bishkek, the leading universities in preparing Kyrgyzstan’s water resources graduates.
In Central Asia, water is unevenly distributed with states positioned downstream being placed in a very unfavourable position. The situation is further complicated since the benefits from cooperation are highly asymmetrical. Despite the challenge, the states have taken action and entered into a regional agreement, which attracted the international donor community to engage further. This case illustrates how international initiatives can influence institutional arrangements in transboundary basins.
There have been many dialogues and seminars on river pollution in the past 20 years or so. Generally everyone agrees that as a country, we desperately need to do something about the sad state of our rivers, especially when we hope to achieve developed nation status by 2020. However, we have not been successful in translating consensus at these forums into changes on the ground.
The water resources of The Bahamas are threatened by over-abstraction, misuse and pollution. In the past, water management in the Bahamas has been conducted through a single-sector approach. To address its issues, actions have been taken to move towards IWRM and a multi-sector approach. In particular, attention has been focused on improving stakeholder participation and advancing political commitment. Presently only being partially successful, IWRM implementation in Bahamas highlights that it is a long term process.
The GWP Eastern Africa holds the 18thOrdinary Regional Steering Committee (RSC) in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi from 18th-19th October 2013, Nairobi, Kenya.
“Although water is central to development, its value is often overlooked. It is thus essential that this national consultation helps to ensure that water is properly reflected in any post-2015 agenda. Moreover water is tied to most development themes – such as food, health, energy. So it is essential to recognize the obvious linkages with these other thematic consultations”