A Hungarian photograph has won the international Best Water Photo competition 2013. The photo competition took place in the frame of International Year of Water Cooperation 2013 and was organized by Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe.
Under its Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) for the Caribbean, the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) is seeking a suitable Consultant to conduct an assessment and create a database of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) initiatives that foster climate resilience in the Caribbean.
On 12-19 May 2013 the Republic of Armenia hosted 11th European Youth Parliament for Water on “Water Resource Management”.
The United Nations has declared 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation. The 2013 World Water Day, on 22 March 2013, is also dedicated to water cooperation.
Global Water Partnership Eastern Africa (GWPEA) has called on Rwanda and Burundi to collaborate in various ways for effective implementation of the Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP).
Many climate change models predict that increasing temperatures, droughts, heavy precipitation and other extreme climatic events will have severe impacts on family farmers. Yields might be reduced by up to 50 percent in dry regions at the same time as family farming continues to be the basis unit of the agricultural economy in developing countries.
In Central Asia, water is unevenly distributed with states positioned downstream being placed in a very unfavourable position. The situation is further complicated since the benefits from cooperation are highly asymmetrical. Despite the challenge, the states have taken action and entered into a regional agreement, which attracted the international donor community to engage further. This case illustrates how international initiatives can influence institutional arrangements in transboundary basins.
To identify the best approach to increase public participation in the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, the EU funded research project River Dialogue was initiated, testing two specific participatory methods of citizens’ involvement. This case illustrates the means by which local people, who are not specialists, can take part in discussions and decision-making process of complex environmental issues.
The Chilika Lagoon was subjected to environmental degradation. Action was taken by the Chilika Development Authority through the application of GIS and remote sensing tools for monitoring and assessment of the lagoon, resulting in significant improvement of the ecological health of the lagoon. The key lesson learnt is how a clear understanding of the coastal process and the river basin is essential for restoration of a coastal wetland.
The Mekong is the longest river in Southeast Asia, beginning its 4,200 km journey in the mountains of the Tibetan Plateau, passing six countries and reaching the South China Sea. Policy reforms to adopt integrated water resources management had been initiated and water related laws had been developed. However, there were still major gaps in the supporting knowledge and information. IUCN and its program Water &Nature Initiative (WANI) supported to scale up so called Tai Baan research (villagers’ research) that enabled local communities to represent their own social reality and through media and public forum, this knowledge can be mainstreamed into water management research and implementation.