Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) faces considerable challenges in the delivery of sustainable and equitable access to sanitation in rural areas. Small steps have been taken towards increasing national ownership of and political commitment to sanitation in Lao PDR. As a lesson learnt; there is no one blueprint for progress in sanitation delivery. Services can be delivered in different ways– e.g. household investment or direct programmatic efforts.
This spring the University of Manchester will offer a new Massive Online Open-Access Course (MOOC) on water and sanitation policy in developing countries. The course starts May 26th and is free and open to everyone. The GWP Technical Committee has endorsed this MOOC.
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) has published a new Technical Focus Paper (TFP) entitled "Integrated Water Resources Management in the Caribbean: The Challenges facing Small Island Developing States."
GWP is involved in a number of events at this year’s World Water Week in Stockholm. Among the highlights is a joint GWP/OECD Side Event on the “Global Dialogue on Water Security and Sustainable Growth”, where a high level panel will address the water security challenge and present the early results of an Expert Task Force.
The Minister of Water and Sanitation, the Hon Nomvula Mokonyane, has confirmed her wholehearted and enthusiastic support for the conference by endorsing the dates 3 – 7 November 2014, and we urge all delegates and prospective delegates in turn to confirm their attendance and participation at the conference to the Secretariat.
“Mission Water”, the Non Conventional Water Resources Programme in Cyprus, was initiated in 2013 by the Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean (GWP-Med), in partnership with the Coca-Cola Foundation and Lanitis Bros (Coca-Cola bottler in Cyprus). The Programme’s activities are implemented in collaboration with the Pedagogical Institute of Cyprus and the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE). The Programme is funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation through a two-year grant (2013-2015) of 400,000 US dollars.
Professor Abel Akambi AFOUDA visited Ouagadougou from 6 to 11 June 2013. This was his first visit as the new Chair to the Secretariat to touch realities of his collaborators and have an overview of main issues to tackle by GWP at regional level. He also had some discussions with his predecessor.
GWP China addressed issues connected to climate change, flood control and use of rainwater in a workshop held in Baoding, in the Hebei Province, on 26-27 November 2013.
GWP has published its Annual Report for 2014, highlighting network achievements across all regions. “2014 was a rich and inspiring year. We significantly increased the visibility of our growing network at the local, regional, and global level,” wrote GWP Chair Dr. Ursula Schaefer-Preuss in her introduction.