The importance of the IWRM approach in the socioeconomic development of a nation was the focus of a workshop arranged by GWP Central African Republic in Bangui in 2012 that brought together NGOs, the University of Bangui, and the country's GWP Partners.
The Lake Ossa complex is faced with unsustainable fishing practices, habitat destruction and deteriorated water quality. These trends have severe negative impact on the livelihoods of people, leading to further unsustainable over-exploitation. To combat these developments, a sustainable livelihood approach has been applied to foster collaboration among stakeholders. From this experience, it is evident that active local NGOs can be vehicles for facilitating dialogue and mobilising different stakeholders.
After the USSR was dissolved, Romania has experienced water scarcity for agriculture. The World Bank and USAID are providing loans/funds for irrigation projects and to strengthen water users associations. This case thus illustrates that irrigation subsidies may be needed to support agriculture until farming efficiency improves and returns from the sale of agricultural products can cover costs.
Confronted with serious water issues constraining development, Burkina Faso decided to implement IWRM. The process has been conducted following three key steps: 1) assessing the status, 2) adapting the legal framework to IWRM principles and 3) Identifying key water resources management issues and developing an action plan. The main lesson learnt is that political will at the highest levels should be established at an early stage.
Further steps towards implementing a Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) were taken on 26-28 September 2011 in Rome at a meeting co-organised by FAO and WMO. The aim of the meeting was to develop a strategy for the agriculture and food security and water sectors of the User Interface Platform which is intended to link climate service providers and users with a view to “building the capacity of users to make better use of climate services, collecting users’ requirements, assisting in the monitoring and evaluation of the Framework and promoting a global understanding of the Framework”.
Transboundary water and equitable access to water and sanitation are topics of the two publications.
The Workshop on Efficient Use of Water Resources and Ecological Compensation on Loess Pleteau of the Yellow River, co-organized by GWP China Yellow River and Yellow River Research Institute, was held on September 27 and 28, 2010, Zhengzhou, Henan Province.
The challenges China is facing with the rapid growth of urban centres, and the corresponding demands on limited water and related resources, is immense. This is true on the Loess Plateau which covers an area of some 640,000 km² in the upper and middle of China's Yellow River. A workshop on “Efficient Use of Water Resources and Ecological Compensation” was co-organized by GWP China-Yellow River and the Yellow River Research Institute on 27-28 September 2010, in Zhengzhou, Henan Province.
Regional priorities in groundwater management in West Africa are knowledge; environmental, social and economic aspects; irrigation and climate change; dialogue and communication; management and institutional aspects; and capacity building/improving competence.