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A proper enabling environment establishes the rights and assets of all stakeholders (individuals as well as public and private sector organizations and companies, women as well as men, the poor as well as the better off), while ensuring for environmental quality. The enabling environment essentially consists of “rules of the game” that are laid out as to achieve a sustainable balance between the social, economic and environmental needs for water. These rules can be defined by the use of: (1) Policies; (2) Legislative Frameworks; and (3) Financing and Investment Structures.

The Maasai live in an area of Kenya that has no water in the rivers for half a year. To address the water scarcity, the Water for the Maasai project was initiated. In this project, the Maasai, the donor and the NGO work closely to cooperate in the key issues of education, training and long-term guidance. The key lesson is that it takes time to build trust among donors, NGOs and native populations. 

The Upper Guadiana Basin provides a classic example of conflict caused by the intensive use of water resources in a semiarid region. Since the 1960s, uncontrolled abstraction of groundwater to provide water for crop irrigation in the area has lowered the water table in places by up to 50m, causing the main river channels to run dry and some wetlands to become desiccated. On the other hand, the abstraction has also supported a booming agricultural economy. 

EU-funded project “Water Management and Basin Organisations in Central Asia” organizes a study tour to Spain and Portugal on 5-11 May 2013.

GWP is responding to the climate change challenge through the Global Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) which includes a portfolio of programmes and projects aiming to build climate resilience through better water management. The WACDEP programmes and projects are developed by GWP Regional Water Partnerships in collaboration with relevant governments and regional economic development communities:

The Country Water Partnership of Benin (CWP-Benin) organized in June 2012 a training workshop of water stakeholders on gender mainstreaming in the management of water resources in the country. The Thecnical Note develop by the CWP for stakeholders, users and decision-makers has served as reference framework of the capacitiy building session.

Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Centre and GWP Ukraine organized National Dialogue on Drought Management on 10 December 2013 in Kiev.

How consolidated efforts can help to reach sustainable development in the region of the Mediterranean Sea to ensure preservation and improvement of the environment and the rich biodiversity, was discussed and presented at the Side Event “Challenges and Opportunities for a Mediterranean Green Growth.”

With the collapse of the USSR, the water sector seized to be subsidised leading to deterioration of basic infrastructure. Action was taken to partially transfer the responsibility for operation and maintenance of irrigation systems to water users. Nonetheless, this has had limited success because it has been seen as an additional cost rather than benefit. This illustrates that for this to work, the returned benefits need to be higher than the costs. 

The city of Jabalpur experienced water shortages. Action was taken through a scheme, which would augment the water supply to the city, by substantially increasing funding. The key lesson is how an empowered local body can respond to water challenges in a successful manner.