Uganda is faced with water scarcity, deteriorating water quality, floods and droughts, issues which are all negatively impacting Uganda's quest for economic and social development. The situation has, however, been improving with the launch of a Water Action Plan which promotes IWRM as an integral part of its strategy. Examining this case clearly illustrates that long term sustainability aspects such are often overlooked and instead, the focus is on short term domestic provision.
GWP Executive Secretary Dr Ania Grobicki participated in a meeting of the Integrated Flood Management HelpDesk,with WMO and other Support Base Partners (SBPs) in Geneva on 4 and 5 October - to discuss achievements so far and what can be done in the future. Since the HelpDesk´s launch in June 2009, 26 requests from 14 countries have so far been received, and dealt with in various different ways depending on the level of the request.
The Dialogue Workshop on Water Resources Protection and Emergency Response Mechanisms of Water Pollution of Yellow River was co-organized by the GWP China Yellow River for deep discussion about the experiences of river protection, current challenges of water resources management and protection, emergency responses of river basin pollution and problems of emergency response mechanisms.
GWP Country Water Partnerships met November 6 to start work on a road map for an initiative between the GWP Water, Climate and Development Programme for Africa (WACDEP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Nile Basin Initiative. Participants agreed that WACDEP will be implemented as a joint programme with the UNEP climate change adaptation project on the Nile Basin. GWP Eastern Africa is supporting UNEP to build stakeholder capacities.
In its efforts to continue building capacity for improved water management in the region, Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) together with its partner, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) hosted a workshop entitled ‘Water Use Efficiency in the Agriculture Sector’ on November 1st - 3rd, 2011 at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Centre in St. Kitts.
The African continent has the highest number of transboundary river basins that collectively cover 64% of Africa’s surface area and contain just over 93% of its surface water resources. These rivers are shared between many countries. While a common water resource is a potential source of conflict, it also has tremendous potential as a driver for economic growth on the African continent where, for example, less than 4% of the available water is utilised, and less than 7% of the hydropower potential is realised.
GWP Country Water Partnerships met November 6 to start work on a road map for an initiative between the GWP Water, Climate and Development Programme for Africa (WACDEP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Nile Basin Initiative. Participants agreed that WACDEP will be implemented as a joint programme with the UNEP climate change adaptation project on the Nile Basin. GWP Eastern Africa is supporting UNEP to build stakeholder capacities.
23-25 March 2010, Ashgabat, Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan
Background
GWP representatives from Stockholm were specially invited to participate through an initiative by our partners of the upcoming Country Water Partnership of Turkmenistan. This event was regarded as a strategic opportunity for introducing how IWRM can be a helpful mechanism in a concrete project.
This documentary series, "Bridging Waters", explains the importance of transboundary water management in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).