The Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) is aimed at building climate resilience in the Caribbean water sector, as a key part of sustainable regional and national development for economic growth and human security.
Due to a growing need within the region for countries to agree on a water-related research agenda and themes, and to avoid duplication in research, a workshop on developing a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Water Research Agenda was held at St. George Hotel in Pretoria, South Africa from the 8th to the 9th of April 2015. The workshop was planned and organised conjointly by SADC and WaterNet with the cooperation of GWP SA.
As we focus our attention on World Water Day 2015, we at the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) wish to draw attention to the underlying goal of securing water for all.
Two members of the WACDEP Reference Group Madam Patience Agyare- Kwabi, a Gender expert from Ghana and Dr. Roberto Martin-Hurtado, an Economist from the United Kingdom and team leader visited Burkina Faso and Ghana, the two West African countries where the WACDEP is being implemented.
The United Nations post-2015 Development Agenda was adopted by Member States at the UN General Assembly in September 2015. GWP is committed to support implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 6, which is dedicated to water. To help countries implement the SDGs, GWP set up a SDG Preparedness Facility (SDG-PF).
Thirty participants from 5 Middle East & Nortnern Africa (MENA) countries - Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia - gathered in Tunisia, on 8-19 February 2015, in a course held in the framework of the 4-year MENA Integrated Sustainable Coastal Development Training Programme (MENA ISCD), financed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and jointly implemented by NIRAS Natura AB and the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med).
In Sub Saharan Africa, climate change is worsening at an alarming rate. The situation on food security vis-à-vis water resources is serious and everyone has a responsibility to develop appropriate means to address the issue. Following national consultations in the led-up to the UN Committee on Food Security’s (UN CFS) 42nd session last year, 50 representatives from 9 countries across Africa met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 18-19 May to prepare for the next step; moving from identification to implementation (#WFEEnexus).
China is at the heart of debates around the perceived trade-off between economic growth and environmental protection. Since the early 1990s, the country has experienced remarkable economic growth, lifting nearly 600 million people out of poverty and averaging a per capita GDP growth rate of 8.9%. The question of how to release water to growing urban areas and industries while continuing to increase farm production and rural incomes is therefore something of a political headache.Since 2000, the government’s desire to build an ‘ecological civilization’ has meant greater integration of economic development, environmental protection and poverty reduction in the country’s most important national planning documents and policy agendas. Promoting more efficient agricultural water use can encourage economic growth and is a good investment. China’s success in releasing water from its agricultural sector has allowed its industry and services to use the water saved to grow.