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.
In order to enhance countermeasures for extraordinary typhoon or rainstorms attributed to extreme climate in Fujian Province, GWP China Fujian, together with Fujian Provincial Department of Water Resources, Fujian Provincial CHES Disaster Control Committee, held Workshop on Countermeasures for Extreme Climatic Events in Coastal Areas on December 16, 2009 in Fuzhou, Fujian Province.
GWP-SEA further operates through relations with accredited Country Water Partnerships (CWP), and other separate co-operating entities that have been given a role in the Regional Water Partnership (RWP) in accordance with GWP-SEA Statute.
During 2008, GWP Mediterranean (GWP-Med) helped Egypt and Lebanon with their water supply and sanitation (WSS) and IWRM planning respectively. The assistance was provided within the framework of the Mediterranean Component of the EU Water Initiative (MED EUWI), through country dialogues on water, and with support of the MEDA Water Programme of the European Commission and Greece that leads MED EUWI.
Costa Rica officially launched an IWRM plan in November 2009, the first country in Central America to do so and the result of six years of work.
For nearly ten years, GWP Central America has been working with legislators in Honduras to explain the benefits of IWRM and advise on technical aspects as they drafted and refined water legislation.
In an opening day address at World Water Week in Stockholm, GWP Chair Letitia A Obeng urged decision makers to recognize that using an integrated approach to water management can help solve a wide range of water issues related to current environmental, social and economic challenges.