The national workshop to validate the results of the study on the proposed agreement on the establishment of the framework and mechanism for cooperation and planning in the Mekrou basin was held on 15 June 2015 in Cotonou, Benin.
The 6th Africa Water Week (AWW6) takes place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on 18-22 July. The event is convened by the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) together with the African Union Commission and other development partners. GWP will convene/co-convene a number of sessions.
Water resources are sensitive to variation in climatic pattern. Climate change is likely to intensify extreme weather event including droughts, floods and tropical storms. It is a fact in Indonesia that sustainability of freshwater is already threatened by severe watershed degradation, pollution, and over-allocation. Furthermore climate change will aggravate these threats to a point of irreversibility if no counter measures.
GWP West Africa, Eau Vive (a French NGO), IRC, the municipality of Dori in Burkina Faso and other partners celebrated the World Water Day in Dori (northern part of Burkina) by paying a tribute to GWP WA's former Chair Honorable Hama Arba Diallo who passed away on 31 October 2014. A series of activities were done starting with a panel discussion on the topic « Leadership for the access to water and sanitation, the role and place of local officials : Example of Hama Arba Diallo ».
In September, the United Nations will finalise a Post-2015 Development Agenda known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs follow and expand on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which expire at the end of the year and will be “the global community’s plan of action” for all dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) for the next fifteen (15) years.
The regional workshop of the Consultative Committee of the Global Cooperation Mechanism for the Mékrou Project for the validation of the reports of various baseline studies conducted in 2014 and 2015 and to agree on the broad guidelines for the implementation of activities for the next year was held on 14, 15 and 16 July 2015 in Cotonou, Benin.
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) staff in Zimbabwe attended World Water Day commemorations organised by Mukuvisi Woodlands Nature Reserve and Environment Centre incorporating the Eco Schools Environment Education Programme. The event was funded by the 3rd European Union Water Facility Programme in Zimbabwe and was held at Darwendale/Manyame Dam on the 25th of March 2015. Apart from GWP, the event attracted 449 children and 74 teachers from 27 schools and 13 other organisations which included the European Union (EU),Environment Africa (EA), Wildlife Conservation, Practical Action, Upper Manyame Sub Catchment Council (UMSCC) and National Parks.
The African Minister’s Council on Water (AMCOW) Secretariat, in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Kenya and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) together with Global Water Partnership (GWP) organised a Water Resources Management Priority Action Plan (WRM-PAP) validation meeting from the 16th to the 18th of May 2016. The validation meeting will be followed by a Consultation Meeting on the Draft Framework and Indicators for the Water and Sanitation Sector Monitoring and Reporting in Africa scheduled for the 19th and 20th of May 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya.