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Theme - IWRM for harnessing socio economic development in Eastern and Southern Africa

Bingu International Conference Centre, Lilongwe, Malawi, 29 - 31 October 2014

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The seventh regional workshop for capacity building of women and men in the media in West Africa was held from 1^st to 5^th July 2013 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. «Water Financing and the protection of the resource in West Africa" was the topic of this annual event attended by 35 journalists from 12 ECOWAS countries plus Mauritania. It was jointly organized by Global Water Partnership in West Africa (GWP-WA) and the West and Central Africa Regional Office of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN-PACO).

The EU Water Framework Directive requires measures to achieve good status of all waters by 2015. In Germany, it is not the federal government that is in charge of implementation but it is the responsibility of the county. To meet the objective, transboundary exchange of experiences was promoted by broadening the range of methods and tools available to water managers. From this study, it is evident that interaction with stakeholders plays a central role. 

Institutions responsible for delivering such services can be public, private, or cooperatively owned and manged entities but can also result from collaborations between these sectors. Service providers are responsible for establishing, maintaining, and upgrading the water supply system, which typically involves for: collection, treatment, distribution, quality control, sewage, and reuse of water. IWRM principles stipulate that water should be provided in adequate, quality, and affordable supplies. An integrated strategy also presupposes that water services should be tailored according to the social, economic, and environmental contexts.

Coinciding with the 2013 World Water Week in Stockholm, GWP presents three new policy briefs on critical water management issues. The topics are Integrated Urban Water Management, Transboundary Water Cooperation and the Economic Value of a Water Secure World.

Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LBVC) and GWP Eastern Africa discussed strategic areas of cooperation as the two institutions share a lot in water resources management in Eastern Africa region.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), the Caribbean Council for Science and Technology (CCST), the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), The University of the West Indies (UWI), the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company (TTFC) and Columbus Communications Trinidad Limited (FLOW) have launched the 2^nd Caribbean Science and Agriculture Film and Video Competition targeting young professionals. The theme of this year’s competition is “Adding Value to Local Foods.”

Oil-shale mining and oil-shale based electricity production has caused serious damage to ground and surface water in the Viru-Peipsi catchment area in Estonia. Action was taken to enhance the protection of the water resources through a project that set out a management plan. The project included data collection, monitoring and capacity building. Due to the success of this project, it can be used as an example for future developments. 

In Marocco, rapid urbanisation has led to increased demands for quality and quantity of water resources. To meet the challenges posed by the growing water scarcity, Morocco has adopted an integrated approach to water resources management through mutually reinforcing policy and institutional reforms, including the adoption of a long term IWRM strategy. The key lesson is the importance of introducing economic incentives to water management.