More than a 120 Members of Parliament, journalists and NGOs from 22 Mediterranean countries met on 22-23 October 2012, in Athens, Greece, and pledged to accelerate their efforts towards de-polluting the Mediterranean by the year 2020.
Athens, Greece, 22-23 October 2007
Following up the commitment of all the Euro-Mediterranean Partners to "endorse a feasible timetable to de-pollute the Mediterranean Sea by 2020", the European Commission launched the 'Horizon 2020' initiative (Cairo, November 2006) that aims to tackle the top pollution sources of the Mediterranean by the year 2020.
The ToolBox Workshop was held on 22-23 March 2013 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University.
The Members of the Benin WASH alliance composed of national and international NGOs involved in the water and sanitation sector in the country, the country Coordinator and Dutch partners of WASTE and ICCO followed this workshop held from 25 to 28 February 2013.
Over twenty lecturers and researchers from universities across the Caribbean will meet in Barbados at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus for the first-ever Integrated Water Resources Management Knowledge Management Workshop to be held in the region on 5-6 June 2013.
On March 4, 2013, Mr. Zheng Rugang, the Coordinator of GWP China was invited to discuss about the participation of GWP China in the UK-China Cooperation Project “Working with China to Support Sustainable Water Resources Management in Developing Countries” with Ms. Wu Lin, the Project Manager of UK DFID China.
A joint GIZ, African Union Commission (AUC) and GWP study tour covered the topic of “Water Security and Climate Resilient Development in the German Water Sector” in Berlin in June. The participants were from the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), and the training provided a closer look at effective climate adaptation measures in the German water sector.
At a time of increasing water demand and the prospect of climate change, the problem of water scarcity in the Mediterranean region and in particular the Greek islands deepens and becomes more critical. Hence, there is an urgent need to enhance water efficiency and to explore further alternatives to ensure water availability using innovative approaches. The revival of traditional water harvesting and management techniques, which have been overlooked in favour of modern technologies, sometimes less sustainable, appears to be one of the most promising alternatives for supplying freshwater in the face of increasing water scarcity and escalating demand.
During the first quarter of 2013, CWP-Benin was busy with the final work (technical and financial reports, project final report; capitalization report) of the Multiannual program to support Water and sanitation sector (PPEA) phase I implemented by CWP-Benin which was completed in December 2012. Similarly, the CWP has also participated actively in the formulation and the launching of phase 2 of the program which will run over three years from 2013 to 2015.