International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched its new project “Mega-cities and their Watersheds: Nature-based Solutions for Sustainable Drinking Water Sources” on November 26, 2013 in Beijing.
Despite an almost abundance of water, most water users in the South-western region of Burkina Faso regularly face water shortages due to an intensification of irrigated agriculture. Action was consequently taken to set up the Local Water Committee. The lesson learnt is that in the realm of the water sector, it is crucial for the state, local authorities, civil society and the private sector to collaborate to find new potential solutions.
Following the reorganisation of the water sector in Zambia, an action that decentralised service provision, it became crucial to monitor the service providers and the consumer experience. Action was taken to set up Water Watch Groups that have as their responsibility to raise public awareness about rights and obligations. This case study, concludes that consumer involvement is the key to the success of water sector reforms.
GWP SA (through GWPO), has now been engaged by UN Water to organize post 2015 national consultations on water between February and end of March 2014. The consultations have been held in three countries – Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. This process is facilitated by GWPO through its regional and country networks - UN Water having given GWP this role because of GWP’s stakeholder platforms across the world.
The Ghana Country Water Partnership (CWP-Ghana) has organised the fourth and fifth Modules of the Capacity Development programme under WACDEP. The training sessions were held at Erata Hotel and Water Resources Commission (WRC), respectively in Accra from 16th to 19th February, 2015. The themes were "Monitoring and Moving Forwards" for the 4th Module and "Wrapping Up and Lessons Learned" for the 5th Module.
Water security is under intense pressure in many urban areas, and the very nature of urbanisation contributes to water stress situations both from a quantity and quality perspective. GWP – in collaboration with India Water Partnership and WAPCOS Limited – addresses urban water issues in a daylong workshop on Friday 16 January at India Water Week 2015.
The Senegal River has seen considerable migration of people in view of worsening drought and desertification. Furthermore, it is subjected to threats such as loss of arable land, and pollution from waste. To address the problems and to realise the potential of the basin, the Senegal River Development Organisation was established by three of the riparian states. This case gives important insights into how an institutional and legal infrastructure can be built in stages.
Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe (GWP CEE) organized an innovative session on stakeholder involvement in water resource management at European River restoration Conference (ERRC) 2014 in Vienna on 29 October 2014.
Water policy goals for a sustainable future will be at the top of the agenda when 1200 participants get together in Hungary for the Budapest Water Summit next week. A delegation from GWP will emphasize the need for a dedicated water goal on the post-2015 agenda.
There were concerns that Lake Arenal in Northern Costa Rica was threatened due to problems of deforestation and possible premature sedimentation, leading the government to take action, resulting in successful national and local benefits in terms of energy produced and area irrigated. The most important lesson learned is the importance of consulting all parties involved before initiating the project to achieve the best result.