The development of hydropower in the Mekong River basin can bring great economic opportunities for Laos. However, since this basin is shared with neighbouring countries, cooperation is crucial. Action was taken and the Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin was signed to coordinate the use of these resources for economic development. For Laos, this has been crucial to their success in regards to the MDGs.
Due to increased agricultural irrigation and large scale dam projects, and inappropriate land and water management practices, the water inflow to the Komadugu Yobe Basin has dramatically been reduced. Action has been taken to establish a legal and policy enabling environment, as well as to increase knowledge among the local communities to establish more sustainable behaviour. The main lesson learnt was that although a multi-stakeholder participatory approach is slow, it helped to mobilise partnership.
Elena Fatulova is the new Chair of the Global Water Partnership Slovakia it was announced on 5 April 2012.
The GWP Technical Committee Background paper No. 16: Integrated Urban Water Management by Dr. Akica Bahri, Technical Committee member, discusses different aspects of the urban water cycle and highlights the challenges of how to integrate urban, land-use planning and water planning towards economic development.
A River Basin Management Plan of the Sava river basin is under development, the first attempt in the Southern European region to draft a River Basin Management Plan according to the EU Water Framework Directive. GWP Mediterranean and GWP Central and Eastern Europe have significantly contributed to the stakeholder involvement process related to development of the Plan.
The Coordination and Change project of the Limpopo Basin Development Challenge (LBDC), under the leadership of FANRPAN, GWP SA and WaterNet, is organizing a one and a half day workshop on 21-22 October 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Ruzinov Strkovec Lake has been subjected to severe pollution due to contaminated by illegal sewage pipes. The Association of Industry and Nature Protection took action and initiated and organised a project to both revitalise the lake and draw the attention of local people to its flora and fauna. The key lesson learnt is how the partnership between an NGO and municipality can result in a successful revitalisation of local water resources.
The International Conference on Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin was jointly held by GWP China, Chinese Academy of Engineering, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Zhejiang University and State Key Laboratory of Basin Water Cycle Simulation and Regulation, on December 9 to 12, 2013 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
The United Nations has declared 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation. The 2013 World Water Day, on 22 March 2013, is also dedicated to water cooperation.
A regional workshop to review and finalize the project document on the "Dialogue on the Concerted Management of Groundwater in West Africa" was held from 10 to 12 July 2013 in Koudougou, Burkina Faso.