A Global Soil Partnership was launched at the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) on 7 September 2011. It will help to implement the provisions of the World Soil Charter, adopted in 1982, and to raise awareness and motivate action by decision-makers on the importance of soils for food security and climate change adaptation and mitigation. As such it will complement the work of the Global Water Partnership.
Ohrid, FYR Macedonia, 12-14 October 2006
Organized jointly by GWP-Med and the Lake Ohrid Watershed Committee, with the support of GEF IW:LEARN Activity D2, the International Roundtable will address issues of integrated management of lake basins and the linkages to connected river basin, groundwater and coastal management. The overall aim is the promotion of cooperation for the management of the transboundary water bodies of the South Western Balkan Peninsula region.
For further information on the event, please visit: www.watersee.net
Although an IWRM approach was incorporated into the development of the new Rajasthan State Water Policy in 2010, it quickly became clear that few stakeholders had a clear understanding of how it worked. Now, GWP India and their NGO Partner, Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti, have created a better understanding of the IWRM approach by involving all stakeholders in a capacity building programme, enabling them to take the lead in the planning and management of water resources in the state.
In Kyrgyzstan, lack of drinking water and access to sanitation is a pressing problem which reinforces social vulnerability and poverty. Financed by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, actions have been taken to improve access to drinking water and sanitation by the Ministry of Health. These projects had a high level of community involvement which increased the sense of ownership.
In Chile, water has been privatised. However, in order to make sure that access was still available to all strata of society, the privatisation was accompanied by a robust regulatory framework, including a system of direct subsidies for drinking water consumption and sewage services for low income households. This case thus illustrates that in case of privatisation, a direct subsidiary scheme should be considered.
After some devastating floods in the Yangtze, the Chinese government took action and issued a policy to counter floods, including wetland restoration. WWF further assisted and developed four pilot sites to demonstrate the benefits of wetland restoration for biodiversity, and to seek alternative income options for farmers, based on the sustainable use of wetlands. This case illustrates the value of a participatory approach.
“Water is a thread that runs through every development sector. The land and water of Sri Lanka is our oil and our gold… We can no longer afford to make water a sectoral matter. We cannot make it someone else’s business.” These were some of the comments made by Ms Kusum Athukorala, Chair of the Sri Lanka Water Partnership at a felicitation ceremony conducted to honour her achievement on receiving the bi-annual Women in Water Award presented by the International Water Association.
Interview with Milkana Mochurova, PhD, at the Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.