In December, 120 people, including members of parliamentary committees, director generals, representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), other multilateral organisations, and international and local NGOs validated the Burundi IWRM Plan and demanded immediate implementation.
GWP Acting Executive Secretary Martin Walshe together with Network Officer Aly Kerdany and representatives of the GWP Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, Western Africa & Central Africa regions attended the Joint Meetings of the African Ministers’ Council On Water(AMCOW), African Development Bank (ADB), and UN Water in Addis Ababa 7-9 October 2008.
GWP Ethiopia launched pilot projects in the Berki and Messena watersheds to promote IWRM, establish a framework for broader stakeholder participation, and enhance grassrootslevel water management practices.
New impetus has been given to GWP’s relationship with the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) in light of the African Union summit held in Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt), in June 2008.
The experts examination meeting on National Integrated Planning of Water Resources was taken place on May 5 and 6, 2009, Beijing, hosted by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Water Resources. The meeting reviewed outcomes in the past years and the progress of the implementation of integrated planning of water resources in China and adopted the final version of this planning unanimously.
GWP China has a delegation group of four members, Prof. Wang Hao, Vice Chair; Mr. Zheng Rugang, Coordinator; Dr. Jiang Yunzhong, Communication Officer and Ms. Ma Yilin, Program Officer, to attend the Fifth World Water Forum (WWF5) in Istanbul, Turkey, March 16 to 22, 2009.