His Majesty King Mswati III's government through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Energy of Swaziland has joined the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in giving contributions to the fourth SADC regional water work programme. This three day event, held under the theme “from vision to Action” is being held from 27-29 May, 2015. The event is being held at Happy Valley in Ezulwini, Swaziland.
The Ghana Country Water Partnership (CWP-Ghana), as a way forward to the Media Training which was held in September last year, supported the Ghana WatSan Journalists Network (GWJN) to carry out a three day field activity in order to determine access to water in some areas of Accra. The exercise was held from 19th to 21st March, 2015.
The purpose for the activity was to ascertain the extent of access to water and sanitation services in some communities in Accra. In all, there were 18 participants in the exercise from, Wash Times, Xinhua News Agency, The Accra Times, Today Newspaper, Daily Guide, Daily Graphic, Weekend Sun, Metro TV, Starr FM, The General Telegraph and Ghanaian Times.
Around the world, World Water Day 2014 was celebrated by many, with activities connected to the theme of water and energy. GWP launched a new video, as well as a new Strategy, Towards 2020, in connection with World Water Day, and the day was celebrated across the GWP regions.
Following the in-country consultations with the key stakeholders and institutions to review and update into an Action plan ‘the Limpopo Basin Strategic Plan for reducing vulnerability to floods and droughts’, GWP SA conducted in country consultations in Zimbabwe. This review is part of the assistance being given to the LIMCOM in order for it to develop a Disaster Risk Reduction Action Plan.
The 2015 Working Conference and the Sub-regional Consultation Meeting of GWP China were organized on February 9 and 10, 2015 in Beijing.
China Water Risk and China Dialogue release "China's Long March To Drinking Water", a report on the true status of China's urban and rural drinking water in March, 2015.
- 12 to 14 February 2015: National Forum of water and sanitation in Burkina Faso; theme "permanent access for all to water and sanitation by 2030: Strategies, concrete solutions and commitments of relevant parties";
- February 13, 2015: meeting of the Steering Committee of the IUCN PAGE in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso;
- 18 and 19 February 2015: Meeting of the ECOWAS Technical Committee of IWRM Experts in Lome, Togo;
- February 22 to March 22, 2015: The Great Walk for Water (SOS for Lake Chad);
- 6 to 9 May 2015: Steering Committee and General Assembly of GWP-WA partners in Cotonou, Benin.
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.
The Country Water Partnerships invited to take part in the inaugural session of the Steering Committee meeting of GWP met with the Regional Secretariat and the Network Officers in the afternoon of November 25. This was an opportunity to review the latest version of the GWP 2014-2019 Strategy and GWP West Africa 2014-2016 Work Programme as well as initiatives and opportunities that may be of some interest to CWPs.
Poor domestic and international coordination between South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique has led to conflicts over the water utilisation of the Komati River basin. Despite these challenges, action has been taken to strengthen the institutional and legislative framework. These actions demonstrate that in the contexts involving transboundary water resources, a strong institutional framework can promote political and economic cooperation between riparian states.