One of our partners, The Network of Asian River Basin Organizations (NARBO), held its 8th IWRM Training in Thulhiriya, SriLanka from 27 November-4 December 2013 to be hosted by Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka (MASL). The Training theme is "Enhanced Water Security through IWRM - Mahaweli Experience".
The eight days training program used a mix of participatory and trans-disciplinary case studies which aims to develop the capacity of participants in IWRM Implementation by using the "IWRM Spiral Model" which was introduced as part of the "IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level" and issued by UNESCO in 2009. 27 Participants from 11 countries includes: Lao PDR, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
On 18 December 2013, Indonesia Water Partnership re-introduced Tool Box to 14 participants who came from Government, Professional, University, and NGO. Resource Persons came from: Government (DG Water Resources, Ministriof Public Work); Private Companies, NGOs, Highe Education (University). Indonesia Water Partnership (INA-WP) as an organizer and Co-organizer was Directorate of Water Resources, Ministry of Public Work, Republic of Indonesia. Inkind support received are meeting room, sound system and LCD
“We are trying to bring more people to write and share their result of hard work in to article and share it with other people by using Tool Box” Dr. Melati Ferianita , Indonesia Water Partnership.
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.
GWP SA, on behalf of SADC is currently making preparations for the forthcoming SADC Water Weeks which have been slated from April – October 2014. The SADC Water Weeks are aimed at ensuring that the Regional Water Programme is well understood and embraced by stakeholders from various sectors at the national level. The SADC Water Weeks were last held in the year 2000 and led to the development of the SADC Water Vision for Water, Life and the Environment
The Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP SA) has been supporting the development of a Climate Change Strategy and actions plans for water related sectors in the Zimbabwe National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) consultation process since its inception in August 22nd 2013. A number of stakeholders, such as COMESA, UNDP, and UNICEF have been supporting this process.
In 2013 UN-Water initiated an expert consultation process where UN-Water’s 31 UN-members and 36 international Partners, including GWP, came together to analyze what role water could have in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The result is a joint paper with technical advice.
The United Nations World Water Day is set for 22 March 2014. This year’s theme is Water and Energy.
GWP SA was invited to join about twenty other stakeholders in a discussion convened by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) Brownbag. The discussion was held on 27th November 2013 to converse food insecurity in Southern Africa. The brown bag represents an effort to engage stakeholders to dialogue in order to address deeper problems – focusing on changing underlying policy, legislation and practice, rather than on short-term welfarest interventions. The discussion was moderated by Masego Madzwamuse, the Economic Justice Programme Manager at OSISA.
GWP SA is a collaborating partner of the WaterNet/ WARFSA/ GWP SA Symposium. The 14th WaterNet Symposium was held on 30th October to 1st November 2013 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The theme of this year’s WaterNet Symposium was “Transboundary Water Cooperation: Building Partnerships”.
Investments for water security and climate resilient development can benefit from combining different funding sources. Matching climate finance with traditional water finance from Official Development Assistance (ODA) and private sector is a good strategy. Stay tuned for guidance and information on funding sources and best practices and guidelines for accessing funding.