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GWP conducted a training course on the “Application of the GWP IWRM ToolBox” at the Yerevan State University in Armenia, 25-26 April 2012. One of the main purposes of the training was to demonstrate how the GWP IWRM ToolBox can be used in university curricula.

The Upper Veda Project involves a dam that would submerge 14 villages. Opposing the project, the affected communities took action and urged for alternative solutions. The dam was eventually constructed, but the process was characterised by conflicts between the project authorities and the communities. This case illustrates that dam projects, which directly affect the livelihoods of large numbers of people, need to have developed a well defined rehabilitation plan prior to construction. 

A scholarship is now available for a student from the Caribbean to develop knowledge related to climate change adaptation and water resources management that can be directed back to the region.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has a unique global water information system, AQUASTAT, developed since 1993 by the Land and Water Division. The main objective of the programme is to systematically select the most reliable information on hydrological resources and water use in each country, as well as to make this information available in a standard format for interested global, regional and national users.

Suriname has taken a major step to manage its water resources by launching the country’s first Water Forum on 12 December 2012. The forum aims to promote an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) approach as the means of attaining water sustainability, as well as fostering regional and international partnerships with stakeholders sharing a common objective of sustainability.

Many climate change models predict that increasing temperatures, droughts, heavy precipitation and other extreme climatic events will have severe impacts on family farmers. Yields might be reduced by up to 50 percent in dry regions at the same time as family farming continues to be the basis unit of the agricultural economy in developing countries.

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), together with the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), is pleased to announce an extension of the call for abstracts for the International Conference on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation for Food and Environmental Security. The new deadline for submission of abstracts will be 16 September 2012. The conference will be held on 21-22 November 2012 at SEARCA, College, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines with a one-day field trip within the Southern Tagalog Region on 23 November 2012.

In order to achieve water security for an area, decision makers need to not only understand the physical resource itself, but also its surroundings and the possible impacts that their management decisions have on those surroundings. For that reason, a good planning process should include social, environmental, economic, and risk assessments.

The Cuero River area is particularly susceptible to floods, making the communities living in the surrounding area vulnerable. This area was consequently chosen for implementation of an Early Warning System Project. Action was taken in three separate phases in three different areas. From the experience, the lesson learnt is that more effort should be devoted to training of a leader group that can promote and consolidate the system’s self-sufficiency.