Comments from GWP Chair, and our allies, in a Circle of Blue Circle story from Cancun, COP16.
As the 16th meeting of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change enters its second week in Cancun, Mexico, some advocates feel that water is getting more attention–though perhaps not yet from negotiators–than it did last year.
GWP Chairperson Letitia A. Obeng, GWP Senior Advisor Alan Hall, and GWP-Technical Committee member Patricia Wouters attended the Department for International Development's (DFID) launch of a New Water and Sanitation Policy for Africa and Asia on October 28 in London.
Johan Holmberg will be stepping down as Chair of the EUWI Finance Working Group after three busy and intensive years which have seen the FWG creating a strong niche in promoting a more strategic approach to water sector financing. Alan Hall has been appointed to take over as Chair from 1 December 2009.
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) has appointed Dr. Mohamed Ait Kadi as the new GWP Technical Committee Chair, effective October 1, 2009.
On March 3rd, 2010, the host of Singapore International Water Week awarded Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2010 to the Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC).
The 4th International Ecopolis Forum, sponsored by International Council on Ecopolis Development and Chengde Municipal Government, Hebei Province, China and organized by Ecological Society of China and Chengde Environmental Protection Agency, was held on August 17~20, 2010 in Chengde with over 200 participants from different countries of the world, GWP China is one of the supporters of this forum and Mr. Zheng Rugang, Coordinator, GWP China, was invited to participate.
The integrated methodological framework (IMF) for integrated water resources management and integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) in the Mediterranean was finalised in 2010, the outcome of specialist technical work and extensive consultation.
At a GWP Myanmar-organized dialogue on 19-20 August 2010 participants concluded that government institutions responsible for water must provide national legislation and policies to foster an integrated approach to managing the country’s water resources. The dialogue, “Formulation of Coordination Mechanism to Engage Institutional Reforms to Foster IWRM among Government Institutions,” was a follow-up to last year’s dialogue. Capacity building training workshops on IWRM were also organized by GWP Myanmar in September.