Based on country studies on Local Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (LIKSP) and how they contribute to enhancing climate resilience in each of the 14 countries in the SADC region, Qandelihle Simelane (regional consultant of LIKSP studies) gave a regional summation from country studies undertaken in the region during the 6th SADC River Basin Organisations (RBOs) Workshop held from the 15th to the 17th of October 2014 at Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa under the theme “Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Resilience in Water Related Disasters.”
Five (5) Caribbean Ministers with responsibility for water resources management from Barbados, Anguilla, The Commonwealth of Dominica, Nevis and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and five (5) senior ministerial/ government representatives from Saint Kitts, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe and Belize have endorsed recommendations for placing greater value on wastewater in the region and its role in the holistic management of water in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
This year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP19) brought some good news for the water community, said the GWP delegates who participated at the event in Warsaw, Poland 11-22 November.
The capacity needs for youth on IWRM in Lao PDR is strongly needed to advocate the knowledge and skills which they can further support and disseminate among their specific groups in the schools, universities and communities. Youth has more creative ideas and lots of activities related to environmental protection as well as some of water protection – water saving campaign, etc.
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.
On March 8th, 2015, the Global Water Partnership (GWP) which comprises of thirteen (13) Regional Water Partnerships including the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) will celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) by advocating for a #watergoal, which would mean major improvements in living conditions for women worldwide. GWP's Chair Ursula Schaefer-Preuss points out that there is a close connection between women and water.
The Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP SA) has been supporting the development of a Climate Change Strategy and actions plans for water related sectors in the Zimbabwe National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) consultation process since its inception in August 22nd 2013. A number of stakeholders, such as COMESA, UNDP, and UNICEF have been supporting this process.
Malawi is launching its NAP Process by holding the first ever NAP stakeholder consultations to be supported by the Global Water Partnership in association with the NAP-GSP.
As part of a two-day Meeting of Regional Partners in Water and Wastewater, GWP Caribbean, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU) and the Global Environment Facility’s Caribbean Regional Fund for Wastewater Management (GEF CReW) partnered to host a special Knowledge Sharing Session on New Tools and Resources for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Caribbean.