The Global Water Partnership (GWP) staff in Zimbabwe attended World Water Day commemorations organised by Mukuvisi Woodlands Nature Reserve and Environment Centre incorporating the Eco Schools Environment Education Programme. The event was funded by the 3rd European Union Water Facility Programme in Zimbabwe and was held at Darwendale/Manyame Dam on the 25th of March 2015. Apart from GWP, the event attracted 449 children and 74 teachers from 27 schools and 13 other organisations which included the European Union (EU),Environment Africa (EA), Wildlife Conservation, Practical Action, Upper Manyame Sub Catchment Council (UMSCC) and National Parks.
The theme of the December 2014 workshop in Pretoria, South Africa, was learning how to plan and execute a campaign. The training was done in collaboration with UN-Water, and the specific campaign we planned was targeted on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the post-2015 development agenda.
Large scale projects in Slovakia caused negative effects in terms of biodiversity losses and reduced floodplain ecosystem functions. To combat this, a project “Integration of Ecosystem Management Principles and Practices into Land and water Management” of Laborec-Uh region was initiated. This case illustrates the importance of accounting for both biodiversity and economic returns when developing projects.
Looking back to 13 years of existence, GWP Eastern Africa has achieved a lot, but there is still a long way to go. Major achievements include the following:
The Eastern area of Tucuman province was faced with significant problems of contaminated water. Extensive research was done, involving universities, and a project was carried out, applying the aspects of IWRM within the areas of technical solutions, institutional arrangements of future water supply operation. This case study highlights the importance of conducting research prior to a project to attain sufficient information.
Aimed at integrating climate change considerations in water and soil conservation planning in Tunisia, the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) has established, in the framework of its WACDEP Programme (Water, Climate and Development Programme), a very beneficial collaboration with the Department for Planning and Conservation of Agricultural Lands at the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture and the Regional Department for Agriculture in Bizerte, in Tunisia’s North.
GWP SA was invited to join about twenty other stakeholders in a discussion convened by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) Brownbag. The discussion was held on 27th November 2013 to converse food insecurity in Southern Africa. The brown bag represents an effort to engage stakeholders to dialogue in order to address deeper problems – focusing on changing underlying policy, legislation and practice, rather than on short-term welfarest interventions. The discussion was moderated by Masego Madzwamuse, the Economic Justice Programme Manager at OSISA.