A landmark conference took place on 15-17 October 2014 at Birchwood Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa to enhance discussions between SADC and SADC regional partners such as River Basin Organisations, International Cooperating partners and developmental partners, such as RESILIM, CRIDF and GWPSA on “Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Resilience in Water Related Disasters”.
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 Director of the National Water Agency of Brazil, Gisela Forattini, who is also a GWP Steering Committee member, introduced the GWP Gender Strategy at the Governmental Forum of Social Responsibility held on 18 September in Brazil.
Mongolia was recently established as a GWP Country Water Partnership (CWP). Professor Davaa Basandorj is the Executive Director of the new CWP. He says that the biggest water problem in Mongolia is water shortage, and that the water management in the country has to be improved.
This conference takes place in East London, South Africa 3-7 November 2014. The programme includes a mixture of papers and parallel sessions with key stakeholders in policy and advocacy.
A presentation on Gender Mainstreaming in the SADC Water Sector was made during the 6th RBO workshop held on 15-17 October, 2014 at Birchwood Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa. GWP SA has facilitated the organization of the RBO workshops, which are aimed at enhancing and building the ability of the RBOs to prepare, respond and recover from water related impacts (flood and droughts) and build resilience to climate change within the RBOs through all aspects, including gender mainstreaming.
GWP Burkina Faso implemented the start-up meeting and first national training workshop on June 16th and 17th to 20th, 2014, respectively in Ouagadougou. The start-up workshop was chaired by the General Secretary of the Ministry of Water, Hydraulic facilities and Sanitation, the Executive Secretary of GWP-West Africa and the Chair of GWP-WACDEP Burkina Faso.
The Five Year (2014-2018) Strategic Plan for Burundi Water Partnership was presented to development partners on 25 September, 2014 in Bujumbura. The conference that was opened by the Assistant to the Minister in charge of water (MEEATU) aimed to create a platform to raise funds for the implementation of activities contained in the different project proposals of the strategic plan for water resource management and climate resilience.
Tanzania is facing increasing pressures on its water resources due to a growing agricultural sector and the effects of climate change. In order to ensure environmental and economic sustainability in the face of water scarcity the local communities of Kiroka village, Morogoro, conceived a project to build capacity for climate adaptation through sustainable land and water management. The participatory approach coupled with capacity building and holistic problem solving that also addresses livelihood issues has proven to be an effective method of implementing an IWRM plan that is sustainable and can be readily subscribed to.
From 1-2 September 2014, GWPEA organized in Rubavu, Rwanda a training workshop for 18 journalists from various media outlets.