Search

Raising awareness among young people and their teachers about the vital importance of the Danube Basin is the main aim of the annual Danube Art Master competition. Each child and school in the basin, covering 19 European countries, is invited to create a threedimensional work of art from material found near water, such as plants, shells, mud, grass and waste.

In 2011, GWP Central America published an updated version of the Status of Water Resources in Central America, a compilation of data on water resources in Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. This publication presents advances and challenges in water resources management at country and regional level.

Held in Buenos Aires in November, the 12th Conference of Ibero-American Water Directors (CODIA) confirmed the 11 targets and the key political messages initially proposed as part of the Americas' preparatory process for the 6th World Water Forum.

The National Water Law, approved in 2009 (see GWP in Action 2009 Annual Report, p. 24), aims to establish a national framework for water management and stipulates the establishment of watershed councils to improve water governance through stakeholder participation.

The Suriname Water Resources Information System (SWRIS) Project has enhanced water resources management in the country. As well as the online information system, the project has developed a water video, a collection of hydro-meteorological field data, awareness programmes about water resources for primary and secondary schools, training, and academic courses at the BSc and MSc level.

GWP Caribbean offered to assist the Republic of Guyana in managing the country's water resources by developing an IWRM policy and roadmap, with the help of a consultant. Guyana has several existing policies which can be applied to water resources management; however, there is no single National Water Resources Management Policy for the country.

Although an IWRM approach was incorporated into the development of the new Rajasthan State Water Policy in 2010, it quickly became clear that few stakeholders had a clear understanding of how it worked. Now, GWP India and their NGO Partner, Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti, have created a better understanding of the IWRM approach by involving all stakeholders in a capacity building programme, enabling them to take the lead in the planning and management of water resources in the state.

Following detailed assessment and a structured stakeholders' consultation at national and regional levels, the five Drin River riparian states signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a shared strategic vision for the benefit of about two million people who rely on the basin for drinking water, agriculture, fisheries, industry, and hydropower.