The Upper Veda Project involves a dam that would submerge 14 villages. Opposing the project, the affected communities took action and urged for alternative solutions. The dam was eventually constructed, but the process was characterised by conflicts between the project authorities and the communities. This case illustrates that dam projects, which directly affect the livelihoods of large numbers of people, need to have developed a well defined rehabilitation plan prior to construction.
The Maltese islands experience acute water shortage as an area. To address this, leakage control has been developed to become a strategically important component for water resource management, and has been used to reach an optimum economic balance between water supply and water demand. The key lesson is that leakage management is an effective supply side action to increase efficiency in water use leading, and can be used as a strategic tool.
NBDF third forum, Kigali, Rwanda, 26-28 October 2011. GWP participated in the third Nile Basin Development Forum and presented during a panel discussion to prepare recommendations by the Nile Basin Development Forum.
GWPSA participated in the 24th Water Resources Committee (WRTC) meeting held on 7-8 May in Lusaka, Zambia. The WRTC delegates comprise directors of water departments in SADC member states and SADC implementing and co-financing agencies of the RSAP 3. GWPSA was present as an implementing partner of the Regional Water Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. Mr. Andrew Takawira, GWPSA Senior Programmes Manager, participated in the meeting and gave a presentation on GWPSAs upcoming activities in support of the RSAP 3, with specific mention to supporting Climate Change Adaptation in the Sector.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination (ICWC) among Central Asian countries, a Central Asian International Research and Practice Conference took place 20-21 September 2012 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to discuss past experience and future challenges of water cooperation in the region. GWP Central Asia and Caucasus, which celebrated its 10 years at the conference, has been instrumental in regional water cooperation and took active part in the conference.
Food security is considered one of the greatest challenges currently facing humanity. Water is a crucial natural resource in food production, and for this reason food and water experts met in Costa Rica. The aim was to establish a dialogue between the two sectors.
Further steps towards implementing a Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) were taken on 26-28 September 2011 in Rome at a meeting co-organised by FAO and WMO. The aim of the meeting was to develop a strategy for the agriculture and food security and water sectors of the User Interface Platform which is intended to link climate service providers and users with a view to “building the capacity of users to make better use of climate services, collecting users’ requirements, assisting in the monitoring and evaluation of the Framework and promoting a global understanding of the Framework”.
The Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) Secretariat had the unique experience of spending the day at the headquarters of its newest partner, the Toco Foundation on September 14th, 2011.
Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) has steadily continued building awareness on the usefulness of rainwater harvesting and the importance of water conservation with the help of its Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) model which was developed in late 2010.
The 2012 Forum on Heavy Metal Soil Remediation and Ecological Restoration (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Forum’) was held on May 30th and May 31st, 2012, in Beijing.