Search

Job title: Development Communications Officer

Reporting to: Regional CoordinatorBased: Entebbe, Uganda

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.

In 2014 GWP and UNICEF started a collaboration to enhance the resilience of WASH services to climate change. GWP and UNICEF extended this collaboration in August 2015 by signing a 2-year agreement to continue the work.

Uneven geographical distribution, coupled with pressures from rapid population growth, increased urbanization, industrialization and environmental degradation, is a big challenge to the sustainable development of Uganda’s freshwater resources. However, the policy and institutional framework has advanced over the past two decades in Uganda. The policy and legal reform process started with the introduction of the Water Act (1995) and the Uganda Water Action Plan (1995). Other key policies included the National Water Policy (1999) and the Local Government Act (1997, 2000). A key Lesson learnt is that political support matters in achieving success, as does the nature and logic of the political system. In Uganda, political prioritization of water and poverty was central to progress. The depth and longevity of sector reform relies on political support, which can ebb and flow.

This year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP19) brought some good news for the water community, said the GWP delegates who participated at the event in Warsaw, Poland 11-22 November.

GWP has published its Annual Report for 2014, highlighting network achievements across all regions. GWP China and other 12 regional partnerships have the highlights in the report.

The 7^th SADC Multi Stakeholder Water Dialogue, a biennial activity which provides a platform for regional stakeholders to discuss and share experiences on different aspects of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) will this year be held from the 29^th to the 30^th of September in Windhoek, Namibia. Running under the theme “Watering Development in SADC: The central role of water in driving industrialization” this year's Water Dialogue will focus on unpacking the role that water will play in driving industrialisation in the region. [Read more on previous dialogues]

GWP China representatives were at the 7th World Water Forum in Korea in April, taking part in many of the events and sessions of the conference. In addition to delegates from the regional secretariat, some experts from GWP China Regional Water Partnerships were actively facilitating the processes.

The Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA) and the Tanzania Water Partnership were engaged in a National Multi-Stakeholder – National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Training Workshop from 8-10^th July, 2015. The training was held at Stella Maris Hotel, Bagamoyo. The goal of this three day work-shop was to launch Tanzania’s NAP as well as to develop a common understanding of the issues that need to be addressed on the way forward.