19 to 22 April 2015 in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Below normal rainfall is most likely during the 2015 southwest monsoon season (June – September) over South Asia as a whole. Below-normal rainfall is likely over broad areas of western, central and south western parts of South Asia and some areas in the north eastern-most parts of the region. It is noteworthy that except southern part of islands of the region no other part of South Asia has above-normal rainfall as the most likely category.
Lebanon and Jordan are exploring the possibility of joining the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention). To assist the two countries in this process, UNECE and the Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean (GWP-Med), with financial support provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), have organised national workshops to increase awareness and understanding of relevant stakeholders of the different legal and institutional frameworks for cooperation on shared waters resources, the specificities of the UNECE Water Convention, in comparison to the UN Watercourses Convention, as well as the complementarity of the two agreements.
GWP China co-hosted three thematic sessions under the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) on IWRM, Water and Food Security as well as Water and Cities at the 7th World Water Forum that was opened on April 12, 2015 in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea. The GWP China Delegation of 9 members participated in the opening ceremony, sessions and events during the 6-day conference.
GWP China representatives were at the 7th World Water Forum in Korea in April, taking part in many of the events and sessions of the conference. In addition to delegates from the regional secretariat, some experts from GWP China Regional Water Partnerships were actively facilitating the processes.
Due to a growing need within the region for countries to agree on a water-related research agenda and themes, and to avoid duplication in research, a workshop on developing a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Water Research Agenda was held at St. George Hotel in Pretoria, South Africa from the 8th to the 9th of April 2015. The workshop was planned and organised conjointly by SADC and WaterNet with the cooperation of GWP SA.
Representatives of GWP Kenya and GWP Ethiopia recently carried out an exchange visit to share experiences on water resources management practices.
The GWP network celebrated World Water Day 2015 with a string of events throughout the world, from Central America to China. This a summary of some of the highlights, with links to reports.
The 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) took place in Sendai, Japan, 14-18 March. The planned outputs were met, with the announcement of a Declaration and a new Outcome Document to replace the Hyogo Framework for Action; the UN's previous disaster risk reduction deal, which expires in 2015.
Among the knowledge products the Water, Climate and Development programme of GWP Central America worked on in 2014, are the analysis for the promotion of water security through no/low regrets investments in climate change plans and strategies at the country level.
The Non Conventional Water Resources (NCWR) Programme in the Mediterranean, a multi-stakeholder programme, with activities in water scarce insular communities in Greece, Malta, Cyprus and Italy, was ranked 2nd best out of 9 water showcases globally at the 7th World Water Forum in Korea.