Abundant freshwater resources caracterise Cameroon, yet the country faces severe water challenges as a result of management, legal and institutional deficiencies. Due to the fragmented water sector, development in Cameroon goes slowly. To increase the sustainability of water resources management, Cameroon has embarked on a process towards developing integrated water resources management plans.
Since 2005, GWP Caribbean and one of its Partners, the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA), have brought together ministers and other senior government officials every year to discuss water issues and explain the benefits of IWRM. At the last high-level session, in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, in October, these efforts bore fruit.
Costa Rica officially launched an IWRM plan in November 2009, the first country in Central America to do so and the result of six years of work.
Key challenges in Central Asia are the degradation of ecosystems and increasing water deficiency. It is a region of scarce water resources, many of which cut across national borders. The intensive use of the limited resources leads to conflicts of interest, making transboundary water resources management crucial to the sustainability of the region’s resources.
A major characteristic of the water-climate scenario in Eastern and North-Eastern India is the frequency of droughts and floods following each other in succession. In such an environment, low cost water-saving technologies for farmers and other water users becomes essential.
GWP Patron Margaret Catley-Carlson delivered the keynote speech at this year's Asia Development Bank’s (ADB) water conference held October 11-15, 2010 in Manila, Philippines. Her focus was on “cutting through red tape in order to achieve better water security.” The GWP delegation participated in a variety of sessions and gave presentations.
Sustainable development requires multi-stakeholder partnerships. That is the message of a new report on water security in Africa published by the Global Water Partnership. (Photo: GWP Executive Secretary Dr Ania Grobicki and Hon Buyelwa P. Sonjica, AMCOW President and Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs in South Africa)
The solutions of many of the problems caused by climate change are within the sectors of society which manage water. Adaptation to climate change is about water and development – yet the world’s aid to improving water security decreases. Sweden must push to make sure that water issues are not overlooked in the climate change debate – and now or never is what it is all about, write water experts at Sida, UNDP, GWP, UN-Water, Stockholm Water House, and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
Article published in the Swedish Newspaper Svenska Dagbladet on 3 November 2009,
This is a translation from Swedish.
The First Preparatory Meeting for Rio+20, which will discuss the substantive themes, will be held from May 17-19, 2010 at the United Nations ECOSOC in New York.