“Water is life, but water can also be a threat to life”. This was said by the Permanent Secretary in the former Ministry of Water Resources Development and Management (MWRDM) in a keynote speech read on his behalf at a Catchment and Sub-catchment consultation and action planning workshop. He further highlighted that water resources in Zimbabwe need to be treated with extreme care due to increased scarcity being brought about by the adverse effects of climate change.
GWP SA is working closely with a number of partners namely GRID-Arendal and RESILIM in the development of an Atlas of the Limpopo River Basin. This initiative is a basin collaboration initiative known as the Limpopo River Basin of Our Changing Environment. An initial conceptualisation workshop was held by the partners on the 18th-19th August, 2014 at Cresta Churchill in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The workshop brought together 33 participants to share experiences and understand the environmental changes that have occurred in the Limpopo River Basin and conceptualise the development of an Atlas.
The Intersectoral roundtable "Country Consultations on Water Speak to post-2015 Agenda" was held on 7 March 2014 in Dushanbe at the Institute of Water Problems, Energy and Environment of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan. The roundtable was organized by CWP-Tajikistan jointly with the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan under support of GWP CACENA.
Ms. Candi Hosein, Programme Assistant of the Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) of the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) had the opportunity of being one of the participants chosen to deliver a technical presentation at the 2014 Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) Conference held in The Bahamas earlier this month.
The Drin River is a complex transboundary water system and a strategic developmental resource for its riparian states in South Eastern Europe.
Lake Cerknica is one of the most important Slovenian Karst sights known worldwide. The phenomenon of intermittent (disappearing) Lake Cerknica has become famous worldwide as an area where cattle can graze, farmers can plow fields, catch fish and drive boats in the same place. A project (2007-2009) supported by EU funding (LIFE06NAT/SLO/000069) aimed to restore the unique ecosystem of Lake Cerknica. This project was possible due to a favorable legal setting - Lake Cerknica was included in a European network of nature protection areas Natura 2000. In 2006 it was registered as Ramsar site
The Detailed Assessment on the Capacity Building Needs in Mozambique (GWP, 2013) states that Mozambique is extremely vulnerable to climate related disaster such as floods, droughts and cyclones, with a recurrence frequency estimated at 1.67, meaning at-least one event occurs every year. Mozambique is also amongst the most affected countries by “large scale” natural disasters in the world. There is a great need therefore to build capacities in managing climate change. To address that need, the Global Water Partnership’s Water, Climate, and Development Programme (WACDEP) for Mozambique was formally introduced through a capacity building awareness workshop at a launch that was held in Maputo, Mozambique on the 18th March 2014.
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 second annual Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-II) is a key activity of the Climate for Development in Africa (ClimDev-Africa) Programme which is organised jointly by the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). It provides a forum for dialogue and engagement with various stakeholders involved in climate and development in Africa.