Guizhou already experiences the effects of climate change, including droughts. Action was taken with the approval of a new policy document which provides funds supporting water quality improvements, water and soil conservation, ecosystem rehabilitation, irrigation, and managing increasing demand. Steps have also been taken for preventive actions for subsequent droughts. The most important lesson that can be learnt is that the greatest challenge to building resilience to droughts is institutional.
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) and The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have jointly developed a Strategic Framework for WASH Climate Resilient Development. The publication is a response to growing demands from governments, development partners and WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) practitioners.
GWP is responding to the climate change challenge through the Global Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) which includes a portfolio of programmes and projects aiming to build climate resilience through better water management. The WACDEP programmes and projects are developed by GWP Regional Water Partnerships in collaboration with relevant governments and regional economic development communities:
The WACDEP Reference Group (RG) provides demand driven technical oversight and support to the implementation of the WACDEP. The WACDEP engages the following RG members:
Myanmar Water Partnership together with Irrigation Department (ID), Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (MOAI) of the Government of Union of Myanmar, with sponsorship support from Global Water Partnership - South East Asia (GWP-SEA) held a dialogue on Water-Food-Energy Security as a Major Contributing Constituent for Sustainable National Development in Myanmar.
Climate change and the increasing number of competing water users have led to the overexploitation of the Pangani river basin resources. Action has been taken to establishing environmental, economic and social implications of different river flow scenarios under expected climatic conditions. This helped to prioritize the allocation of water resources to meet basic human needs and those of ecosystems. The main lesson learnt was that providing a platform for dialogue between key stakeholders and increasing knowledge about the climatic variability and future risk are essential for successful water management solutions.
GWP Senior Network Officer Angela Klauschen is one of the panelists in the opening session of the Greening the Islands conference in Italy on 30-31 October. The theme of the conference is "Integrated Sustainability: Energy & Water for Islands and Remote Locations".
GWP South America is working on the implementation of a new Latin American Training Programme on Water Legislation for International River Basins. This programme aims to encourage improved international cooperation and facilitate good water governance in the region. Its main outputs will be three training workshops, a manual to support training processes and a monitoring report which will identify knowledge gaps, capacity needs, lessons learned and follow-up needs.