The Nigeria Water Partnership (GWP-Nigeria) has carried out successfully on 15 June 2015 in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources the national consultation on water and food security. The Chairman of GWP Nigeria, Dr. Hassan Bdliya in his welcome address stated that in recognizing the looming food and water crises, the United Nations Open Working Group on Sustainable Development made a proposal for a dedicated goal on food security (Goal 2) – ‘’end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture’’ and another dedicated goal on water (Goal 6) – ‘’ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’’.
A capacity building workshop focusing on project preparation and financing in Zimbabwe for climate resilient projects was held at Monteclair Hotel in Nyanga from the 26th to the 28th of July 2015. The workshop was attended by 21 participants from selected government Ministries, such as the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate (MEWC). The workshop was aimed at equipping selected participants with information, knowledge and practical skills in the preparation of proposal writing involving mini hydro projects for possible funding. The feasibility study focused on Siya Dam mini hydro power generation project.
Egypt’s water resources are severely constrained. This calls for increasing the water use efficiency by improving irrigation management practice, as the agriculture sector is the main user of water resources. To address the issue, an Irrigation Improvement Programme was initiated, including a combination of technical changes and infrastructure investment. The case clearly demonstrates the importance of building appropriate institutional structures in parallel to the introduction of technical changes.
GWP SA was invited to join about twenty other stakeholders in a discussion convened by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) Brownbag. The discussion was held on 27th November 2013 to converse food insecurity in Southern Africa. The brown bag represents an effort to engage stakeholders to dialogue in order to address deeper problems – focusing on changing underlying policy, legislation and practice, rather than on short-term welfarest interventions. The discussion was moderated by Masego Madzwamuse, the Economic Justice Programme Manager at OSISA.
The regional workshop of the Consultative Committee of the Global Cooperation Mechanism for the Mékrou Project for the validation of the reports of various baseline studies conducted in 2014 and 2015 and to agree on the broad guidelines for the implementation of activities for the next year was held on 14, 15 and 16 July 2015 in Cotonou, Benin.
The water resources of The Bahamas are threatened by over-abstraction, misuse and pollution. In the past, water management in the Bahamas has been conducted through a single-sector approach. To address its issues, actions have been taken to move towards IWRM and a multi-sector approach. In particular, attention has been focused on improving stakeholder participation and advancing political commitment. Presently only being partially successful, IWRM implementation in Bahamas highlights that it is a long term process.
Water is a source of conflict around the Berki River Basin in Ethiopia, predominantly a consequence of a lack of IWRM awareness and an institutional framework. Action was taken to implement an IWRM pilot project to account for different stakeholder interests, resulting in the development and adoption of the Berki Basin IWRM. Key lessons drawn from the project include the importance of capacity building, consensus building, and the importance of decentralised multi-stakeholder platforms for conflict management.
On the occasion of the World Water Day and International Year of Water Cooperation, GWP Central and Eastern Europe launches international photo contest today.