PRESS BRIEFING on Wednesday September 8, 2010 at Stockholm World Water Week, Press Room at 13:00 hrs
Abundant freshwater resources caracterise Cameroon, yet the country faces severe water challenges as a result of management, legal and institutional deficiencies. Due to the fragmented water sector, development in Cameroon goes slowly. To increase the sustainability of water resources management, Cameroon has embarked on a process towards developing integrated water resources management plans.
Located in the Baltic Sea Basin, water quality management is one of the Poland's key issues, creating problems for people’s livelihoods and the environment. Due to year-to-year variability in its water resources, devastating floods and local water scarcities are frequent.
Key challenges in Central Asia are the degradation of ecosystems and increasing water deficiency. It is a region of scarce water resources, many of which cut across national borders. The intensive use of the limited resources leads to conflicts of interest, making transboundary water resources management crucial to the sustainability of the region’s resources.
Benin in West Africa belongs to the group of Least Developed Countries (LDC) with a low per capita GDP. Its economy is predominantly dependant on subsistence farming (extensive cotton production) and regional trade. The country is drained by a dense hydrographical network made up of seasonal flow rivers and less than 3% of its renewable water resources are currently used.
Press Invitation—Global challenges and water security: threats and opportunities
On September 4 the Global Water Partnership (GWP) arranges a unique lecture with the prominent and internationally recognized Dr. Ismail Serageldin, former Vice-President of the World Bank, the founding Chair of GWP, and currently Librarian and Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt. Dr Serageldin was instrumental in establishing GWP in 1995 and continues to support GWP as a Patron.
At the June 2010 meeting of the African Minister’s Council on Water (AMCOW) GWP's work for advancing the water agenda on the continent was recognised. The AMCOW Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) appreciated GWP's contribution and gave GWP an additional mandate to work in four key areas:
In an effort to boost disaster control and prevention in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake on May 12, 2008, GWP China proposed and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) funded the project, “Evaluation of Post-quake Rural Water Supply Facilities and Capacity Building.”
In July 2010 GWP South Asia conducted a 3-day dialogue and training workshop with the Water Integrity Network (WIN) during which they explored areas of possible strategic cooperation and were also exposed to water integrity methods, tools and materials.
At a regional workshop on financing the water sector in Central Africa, participants expressed the urgent need for investments in basin, national and regional organizations. In addition, participants validated the proposed regional strategy for financing the water sector and its mechanism as proposed by GWP Central Africa (GWP-CAf). One participant called the strategy “relevant, consistent and forward looking.”