Hurghada, Egypt, 13-15 December 2006
Integrated management of groundwater resources is a challenge of particular importance in the region, especially in the arid lands. A 3-days Training Course on Groundwater Assessment and Development is organized from 13 to 15 December 2006, in Hurghada, Egypt, by CEDARE, GWP-Med, UNDP and the Eastern Desert Project.
On 25 November 2011 in Tirana, Albania the five Drin River Riparians signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a Shared Strategic Vision for the Sustainable Management of the Drin River Basin for the benefit of about 1.5 million people relying on the water resources of the basin for drinking water, agriculture, fisheries, industry and hydropower.
After the conference of water ministers on IWRM in March 1998, West Africa adopted a regional plan for integrated management of water resources (RAP/ IWRM / WA). This plan is an essential component of the regionalwater resources policy.
Dedication to consultation and communication paid off in 2010 as policy makers established and consolidated a relationship with researchers in the Challenge Programme on Water and Food (CPWF) in the Limpopo River Basin.
GWP representatives from Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova attended the "Integrated Water Management in the Balkans and Eastern Europe" Conference on 20-23 March in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Participants from 15 countries shared experiences and best practices in the field of integrated water management and climate change and discussed major topics regarding regional and transboundary waters.
Cancun, Mexico. 1st December, 2010.
Real development: national planning that integrates water resources management and adaptation
On the afternoon of December 1st, two representatives from GWP participated in two different panels of the Dialogs for Water and Climate Change. The first was “Bridging IWRM and National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs)” and the second was a Stakeholder’s Panel: “Urgencies to Adapt—Experiences and Constraints.”
(Photo: GWP Chair Dr Letitia A Obeng)
The twin engines of urbanisation and resource depletion will undermine efforts to achieve water security: water availability will be eroded and conflicts will escalate. The assumptions underlying conventional urban water management must be revisited.
Until recently it was rare for water professionals to consider financing issues. Water advocacy and plans were often aspirational – neglecting to show where the money would come from, how activities would be financed or who would pay for them. It was as if finance was somebody else’s problem. Likewise, people from the finance sector have not given great importance to water related issues. However, this situation is changing and finance is becoming an essential topic in water management circles.
The GWP Technical Committee consists of up to 12 internationally recognised professionals selected for their experience in different disciplines relating to integrated water resources management. The Committee Chair is Dr Mohamed Ait-Kadi of Morocco.