To supply water to a growing population, an aqueduct was built in the watershed of El Limón River in Tovar municipality. However, this aqueduct does not provide sufficient supply, creating conflicts among the communities. To solve these, agreements on the use and conservation of water resources have been made among the communities, involving both rural villages and urban areas. This illustrates the benefits of a participatory approach.
GWP SA is working closely with a number of partners namely GRID-Arendal and RESILIM in the development of an Atlas of the Limpopo River Basin. This initiative is a basin collaboration initiative known as the Limpopo River Basin of Our Changing Environment. An initial conceptualisation workshop was held by the partners on the 18th-19th August, 2014 at Cresta Churchill in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The workshop brought together 33 participants to share experiences and understand the environmental changes that have occurred in the Limpopo River Basin and conceptualise the development of an Atlas.
The South African Country Water Partnership (SACWP) was first launched in 2002 at a time when the Department of Water Affairs was heavily engaging with different stakeholders for implementing its 1998 new water law. Since the launch, there have been a number of attempts to revive the CWP.
GWP SA attended the Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM) Communications Task Team (CTT) which met on the 19 November 2013. The meeting provided an opportunity for GWP SA to give an update on the ‘Mainstreaming Climate Change into the Water Sector in the SADC region’ project. The ‘Climate Change Mainstreaming in the SADC Water Sector’ project aims to strengthen national stakeholder platforms for effective decision-making in Water Resource Management & Development, by providing training in national forums by targeting stakeholders and providing national consultations on basin wide issues (such as the development of the ORASECOM IWRM Plan).
Α Regional Roundtable & a Working Meeting on “Water, Food, Energy and Environment Nexus in South East Europe” were organized by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean (GWP-Med) and Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), in cooperation with the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Global Environment Facility (GEF) International Waters: Learning Exchange and Resources Network (IW:LEARN) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
The “Water Integrity Capacity Building Programme for the MENA Region” was officially labelled under the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) framework, during the Senior Officials of the Member Countries’ Meeting on December 4, 2014 at the headquarters of the UfM Secretariat, in Barcelona.
Global Water Partnership (GWP) and the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, have agreed to establish a strategic partnership to jointly undertake work on climate resilience and WASH. The initial collaboration is for six months, with a potential continuation.
Tanzania from 11-13 March kick-starts the Southern African Development Community (SADC) National Consultations to be held in all the 15 SADC member states. The consultations, to be held under the theme “From Vision to Action”, will provide a platform for (SADC) to engage and interact with the various stakeholders in mapping the strategic direction of the regional water resources management, SADC will be undertaking national consultations in the SADC Water Weeks within 15 of the SADC member countries. In each country, the platform will be provided through three main activities (media training, a youth forum and a national consultation). The national consultations are being facilitated by the SADC secretariat and implemented by GWP SA through the Country Water Partnerships (CWPs). Additionally, each consultation is being hosted by the ministry responsible for water in each country.
Partners are the basis on which the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) operates. This year's World Water Day theme “Water Cooperation” reminds us that working together is essential to achieving a water secure future.