The theme for the International Day for Biological Diversity in 2013 chosen by the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD) is “Water and Biodiversity”. This theme was chosen to coincide with the United Nations designation of 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation. The International day for Biological Diversity is celebrated annually on the 22nd of May.
The first West African Sub Regional Water Integrity Capacity-Building Workshop for Ghana and Sierra Leone was held at the Mirage Royale Hotel, East Legon, Accra, Ghana from 08th to 12th April 2013 was successful as it trained 29 participants on water integrity.
The Round Table "National Consultations on Water in the post-2015 development agenda" was held on 11 April 2013 in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Over the last five years Pakistan has suffered three major floods. In 2010, the country experienced a super flood which devastated the country, with 2,200 people losing their lives. GWP Pakistan recently helped organise an international conference on flood forecasting.
The EU Water Framework Directive requires all EU member states to achieve satisfactory water quality of all waters by 2015. Although each country is individually responsible, cooperation over transnational water resources is required. In the Körös/Crisuri river basin, a project was initiated using the expertise and experience of Hungary and Romania, involving all key stakeholders. The key lesson is the importance of public participation.
On 31 March 2013 (Sunday), Water Association of Selangor Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (SWAn) together with Rotary International District 3300 and Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) and event supported by Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) and Malaysian Water Partnership (MyWP) had successfully organised the “Walk for Water 2013” at Dataran Petaling Jaya.
The Minister of Water and Sanitation, the Hon Nomvula Mokonyane, has confirmed her wholehearted and enthusiastic support for the conference by endorsing the dates 3 – 7 November 2014, and we urge all delegates and prospective delegates in turn to confirm their attendance and participation at the conference to the Secretariat.