Freshwater is under acute pressure from climate change in North Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, COP20 delegates heard on Wednesday. Experts from countries as diverse as Tunisia and Belize urged visionary leadership from politicians to protect natural resources, reports CDKN’s Mairi Dupar from Lima, Peru. The experts from the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW), Global Water Partnership and CARICOM also called for water managers to build on their local innovations for climate resilience – and to get savvier about communicating solutions to policy-makers. The event was an opportunity to learn about common problems and possible solutions across Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, based on a South-South learning project supported by CDKN.
The Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA) and the Tanzania Water Partnership were engaged in a National Multi-Stakeholder – National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Training Workshop from 8-10th July, 2015. The training was held at Stella Maris Hotel, Bagamoyo. The goal of this three day work-shop was to launch Tanzania’s NAP as well as to develop a common understanding of the issues that need to be addressed on the way forward.
Some members of the Francophone youth for water initiative took part in the 14th edition of the international youth work camp from 23 July to 3 August 2015 in Burkina Faso. The theme of the camp was "youth leadership and responsible citizenship." In this context, the WYPW- Africa was represented by 15 young participants from neighboring countries (Benin, Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast and Togo) and a similar number of young people living in Burkina Faso with the support of the NGO Eau Vive.
Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) under its Water Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) is currently supporting the revision of the Antigua and Barbuda Draft Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Policy and Roadmap in conjunction with its network partner, the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA).
The studies on "Identification of national development priorities on the Mékrou basin in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger were validated after comments made by the consultant were discussed and taken into account by national consultants.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are deemed to be some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. This is in part attributed to sea-level rise, coupled with the small size of these territories amidst growing populations and other development challenges. Of these development challenges, achieving water security remains an enduring issue which will only be further exacerbated by the threat of climate change.
#COP21 commonly referred to as the United Nations Climate Change Conference is the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). #COP21 kicked off on November 30th and runs until December 11th, 2015 in France.