The “Status Report on the Application of Integrated Approaches to Water Resources Management” was launched by UN-Water on 19 June 2012 at Rio+20 with GWP Chair Dr Letitia A Obeng as one of the panelists. This Status Report, prepared by UNEP in collaboration with UNDP and GWP, is one of the official UN reports to the Rio+20 conference, and is based on a survey of countries carried out in 2011. GWP facilitated the completion of level 1 and 2 surveys through the Regional and Country Water Partnerships, and is very proud to have been a partner in this endeavour.
During the month of September, Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) through the support of its partner, the National Water and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) of Grenada presented the winner of the 2013 GWP-C Media Awards on Water, Mr. Milton Coy with his winning prize.
The beauty and wilderness of Danube floodplains was continuously deteriorated by human impacts. Construction of the Gabcikovo water dam caused direct clearance of minimum 2,500 ha of floodplain forests and influence of water regime of other areas. A regional NGO BROZ located in Slovakia, has developed a project for EU funding scheme LIFE. The project aims to preserve last remaining natural floodplain forests in Slovak part of the Danube floodplain and to introduce sound, sustainable forest management in the area. As a result, a Sustainable Forest Management Strategy has been elaborated to give a base for new forest management plans.
Climate change and the role of water in socio-economic development was the theme of a workshop for journalists organized by GWP Central Africa in Douala, Cameroon, 17-20 December 2012. News reporting, writing techniques and tools for effective storytelling and reporting were also on the agenda for the 21 participants who came from print media and broadcasting.
A large proportion of Brazil’s population is lacking access to water and sanitation, and development is slow, in particular in rural areas due to lack of funds and political will, but also due to inefficiency in the resources allocation. Action has been taken by the State of Ceará to implement the model called Integrated Rural Water Supply and Sanitation System, illustrating that the most important component of attaining sustainable management is user participation.
In May, 2012, Global Water Partnership China Hebei conducted investigation and studies in four cities and nine counties.
The GWP’s annual Consulting Partners Meeting and the Regional Days were held from 22 to 26 August 2012 in Stockholm. The delegation of the GWP China participated in all the events and the discussions.