The Global Water Partnership (GWP) staff in Zimbabwe attended World Water Day commemorations organised by Mukuvisi Woodlands Nature Reserve and Environment Centre incorporating the Eco Schools Environment Education Programme. The event was funded by the 3rd European Union Water Facility Programme in Zimbabwe and was held at Darwendale/Manyame Dam on the 25th of March 2015. Apart from GWP, the event attracted 449 children and 74 teachers from 27 schools and 13 other organisations which included the European Union (EU),Environment Africa (EA), Wildlife Conservation, Practical Action, Upper Manyame Sub Catchment Council (UMSCC) and National Parks.
The topic of World Water Day 2015 is Water and Sustainable Development. GWP CEE took active part in the global GWP campaign In Support of a Dedicated Water Goal in collaboration with UN-Water, to raise awareness of the links between Water and Sustainable Development.
The World Water Day was commemorated in Uganda on Monday, 23 March 2015. The celebration ceremony took place at the new premises of the Directorate of Water Resources Management in Entebbe under the theme of Water and Sustainable Development.
A youth water forum targeting youth organisations in the water, sanitation and environmental sectors was held at Rainbow Towers in Harare, Zimbabwe on the 17th of March 2015. The youth forum was part of the SADC Water Weeks programme. The SADC Water Weeks are being held in each of the 15 SADC member states spearheaded by the SADC Water Sector under the auspices of the Infrastructure and Services Directorate. The National Water Weeks, running under the theme “From Vision to Action” are supporting SADC to have a platform in interacting with member states on water resources management strategic issues. Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP SA) is playing a role in providing support in undertaking this initiative.
The government of Lao PDR is working very constructively to improve the water resources planning and management system in Lao PDR especially in the formal higher education system.
Through the Lao Water Partnership, Mr. Chanthanet Boualapha, Director General of Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment who acts as chairperson of Lao Water Partnership opened the consultation on mainstreaming the IWRM in the formal higher education system. He expressed on the important of IWRM progress and application in Laos context for a decade as well as capacity building on this field. He also addressed the importance of the strengthening the local capacity in the whole country for IWRM decentralization and human resource development including emphasizing on integration and mainstreaming IWRM /IRBM approach into education system in each level.
On March 22, 2015, in Shanghai, the World Water Day, the Forum on Water and Sustainable Development was organized jointly by the Society of Enterprises and Ecology (SEE) and Xingye Bank with the support of the UNESCO, WWF, MAB and GWP China as well as some companies such as Coco-cola, Wanko, Yikang, etc. More than 300 people attended the opening ceremony of the Forum.
The date of March 21 marked the network development of GWP China to Xiamen University as Prof. Hao Wang, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Acting Chair of GWP China and Prof. Yunzhong Jiang, Deputy Coordinator of GWP China were invited to contribute to the College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University in Fujian Province.
As we focus our attention on World Water Day 2015, we at the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) wish to draw attention to the underlying goal of securing water for all.