Water quality is a major issue in Sri Lanka. Pollution and waste dumping contaminate water supplies, leading to serious health impacts for nearby water users. In one of the country’s most serious cases of water pollution, 300,000 people in Gampula were at risk when an epidemic of viral hepatitis broke out; several people died. But GWP Sri Lanka has achieved some results. (In photo: GWP Sri Lanka Chair Kusum Athukorala)
June 14, 2011 — Yesterday a coalition of water advocates organized a side event at a United Nations climate conference to highlight the urgency of recognizing water resources management as central to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
This question was addressed by GWP Technical Committee Chair, Dr Mohamed Ait-Kadi, who spoke at “Green Week”, the largest annual conference on European environment policy, in Brussels, in May 2011. His presentation “Water Security & Green Economy: links through IWRM” was given at the session on “The United Nations conference on sustainable development in 2012: Can it deliver on resource efficiency?”
Recognised as the most appropriate platform in the region, GWP Central Asia and Caucasus (CACENA) was asked by the Uzbek Ministry of Agriculture and Water to co-organize an international conference in Tashkent as part of the process leading up to the 6th World Water Forum in 2012. GWP CACENA also led a session on integrated water resources management.
GWP Mediterranean is a Consortium Member and the Technical Director of the regional technical assistance project Sustainable Water Integrated Management – Support Mechanism (SWIM-SM) that was launched by the European Commission in December 2010 to promote the extensive dissemination of sustainable water management policies and practices in the Mediterranean. SWIM-SM Partner countries are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria and Tunisia. As a Technical Director, GWP Mediterranean oversees all activities and contributes technically to the implementation of the project.
GWP Mediterranean, as the Secretariat of the Mediterranean Component of the EU Water Initiative (MED EUWI), has since since 2005 supported the efforts of the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water towards an Integrated Water Management Planning in the country. Through technical assistance by the MED EUWI and GWP Mediterranean, the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) aims to put in place a decision support system to examine alternative water development and management strategies to support IWRM Planning.
On May 19, 2010, Mr. Chen Lei, Minister of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China, met with the GWP Steering Committee members at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and had a dinner together later. Some other senior leaders of the Ministry of Water Resources, the leader of GWP China’s host institute together with Mr. Wang Shucheng, Chair of GWP China, Dr. Dong Zheren, Standing vice Chair of GWP China, Prof. Wang Hao, Vice Chair of GWP China and Mr. Zheng Rugang, Coordinator of GWP China also joined.
GWP partners with more than 2,800 registered organisations that share its aims and values in tackling the sustainable development, management, and use of water resources. Partners share information and experiences, and draw on each other for advice and assistance.
Level Roundtable on Strategy of Extreme Climate Adaptation in China was jointly organized by Global Water Partnership China, Asian Development Bank and Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on April 22, 2011 in Beijing with the co-sponsors of UNESCO Office Beijing, UNICEF Office for China, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), WWF Beijing Office, Research Center on Flood and Drought Disaster Reduction of the Ministry of Water Resources and Climate Change Research Center of the Ministry of Water Resources and 130 participants from the key water-related ministries under the State Council, and relevant departments of the Ministry of Water Resources, UN organizations’ offices in China, foreign embassies in Beijing, universities, research institutes and NGOs.
The Fourth Yangtze River Forum, jointly initiated by GWP China and some other organizations, was organized by the People’s Government of Jiangsu Province, Yangtze River Conservancy Commission of Ministry of Water Resources on April 18 to 19, 2011 in Nanjing, China.