The States of the world will make two fundamental decisions in 2015:
- In September, they will set their strategic priorities for the next 15 years through the post 2015 Agenda;
- In December, they will finalize in Paris their climate roadmap during the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21).
Several processes that place water at the center of the development are underway worldwide (IWRM, MDGs, SDGs ...).
At the level of West Africa, ECOWAS as the main political body for development, has undertaken, among other actions, the creation of the Permanent Framework for Coordination and Monitoring (PFCM), and the development of the Regional Water Policy in West Africa (PREAO).
A team of GWP-WA and CWP Burkina PNE had on June 11, 2015 a visit to assess the level of implementation of work on the site of the WACDEP demonstration project in Burkina Faso. This project involves the drip irrigation techniques for the efficient management of agricultural water for the benefit of vulnerable populations in the municipality of Loumbila in the center of the country.
Since the last visit in April 2015 there has been plowing work, the installation of some drip irrigation and water pumping equipment with solar energy, among others.
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. It is within this context that on 12th June 2015 at Meikles Hotel, Zimbabwe, Global Water Partnership co-jointly with the African Development Bank through the Africa Water Facility (AWF) gathered 45 participants at an Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) workshop.
GWP Eastern Africa occasionally produces policy papers on different thematic areas and programs, The Policy paper aims to communicate to our stakeholders about a series of activities geared towards a water secure and climate resilient region.
From 17-18 June, 2015 a regional building capacity workshop was organized by The Sao Tome and Principe Water Partnership in collaboration with GWP-CAf on “the contribution of social media in achieving water security in central Africa” for central Africa Journalists specialized in water security and climate resilience reporting.
It brought together at Santana Club & Beach Resort Hotel in Sao Tome Journalists from various media house both private and public, and different countries including Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Chad, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe.
The workshop aimed at initiating media practitioners to the proper use of social media as a means of communication on the one hand, and on the other hand underlining the role of social media as a catalyst in changing human behavior with respect to water security, and climate resilience and are concerned.
The two day workshop which focused on the use of social media was also a unique opportunity for not only introducing media professionals to the GWP-CAf‘s web presence including the regional website and social media on which the organization is active but also inviting media practitioners to interact on these online platforms
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.
Some 40 key stakeholders from the government; private companies and banks; research institutes and Academia; media as well as the Civil Society discussed and contributed to the final draft of the Report ‘Governance in Palestine: Sector Reform to include Private Sector Participation’, during the Third Consultation Workshop of the Palestinian Water Policy Dialogue. The workshop was organised by the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med), within the Union for the Mediterranean project Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector and under the patronage of H.E. Mazen Ghuneim, Chairman of the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), in Ramallah, on 16 June 2015.
Aimed at integrating climate change considerations in water and soil conservation planning in Tunisia, the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) has established, in the framework of its WACDEP Programme (Water, Climate and Development Programme), a very beneficial collaboration with the Department for Planning and Conservation of Agricultural Lands at the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture and the Regional Department for Agriculture in Bizerte, in Tunisia’s North.