Based on country studies on Local Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (LIKSP) and how they contribute to enhancing climate resilience in each of the 14 countries in the SADC region, Qandelihle Simelane (regional consultant of LIKSP studies) gave a regional summation from country studies undertaken in the region during the 6th SADC River Basin Organisations (RBOs) Workshop held from the 15th to the 17th of October 2014 at Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa under the theme “Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Resilience in Water Related Disasters.”
The Lake Ossa complex is faced with unsustainable fishing practices, habitat destruction and deteriorated water quality. These trends have severe negative impact on the livelihoods of people, leading to further unsustainable over-exploitation. To combat these developments, a sustainable livelihood approach has been applied to foster collaboration among stakeholders. From this experience, it is evident that active local NGOs can be vehicles for facilitating dialogue and mobilising different stakeholders.
GWP Armenia and GWP Turkmenistan have conducted several projects focused on schools. The purpose is to engage more young people in water resources management.
A programme of measures for forest adaptation, and for mitigating the negative effects of climate change, will be established in four GWP CEE countries, with the dissemination of results to policy- and decision-makers, stakeholders and NGOs.
The Office of the Prime Minster of Kosovo in cooperation with Global Water Partnership organized a National Drought Dialogue on 12 November 2014 in Pristina.
The 1st Regional Conference of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) labelled project “Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector” will be held on 28-30 October 2014, in Athens, Greece, in close collaboration with the EU funded “Sustainable Water Integrated Management - Support Mechanism” (SWIM-SM) project.
The European rivers Mura, Drava and Danube form a 700 km long “green belt” connecting more than 800,000 ha of highly valuable natural and cultural landscapes in five countries (Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia). This area is a symbol of unity among the countries and is planned to become a protected Transboundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve “Mura-Drava-Danube” (TBR MDD).
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) is pleased to welcome Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, to the GWP as a Patron of the organisation.
Two back-to-back meetings on water management in Central Asia recently took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. GWP representatives Natalia Alexeeva and Vadim Sokolov were invited to the regional workshop “Integrated Water Resources Management in Central Asia”, where they presented the IWRM Toolbox and instruments, and gave an overview of the SDG process and the activities of GWP Central Asia and Caucasus.