Promoting the IWRM approach means first making those involved in water management aware of IWRM principles, how they can be applied in their context and the main benefits of doing so.
Abundant freshwater resources caracterise Cameroon, yet the country faces severe water challenges as a result of management, legal and institutional deficiencies. Due to the fragmented water sector, development in Cameroon goes slowly. To increase the sustainability of water resources management, Cameroon has embarked on a process towards developing integrated water resources management plans.
In 2004, with help from the Zambia Water Partnership, the Zambian Government began developing an Integrated Water Resources and Water Efficiency Plan for sustainable management of the country’s water resources.
The Ethiopian Country Water Partnership and GWP Eastern Africa have implemented an IWRM pilot project in the Berki River Basin to establish a framework and to promote the application of IWRM at the catchment level.
GWP Central America and its partners participated in the First Central American Fair on Community Water Management, 19-24 March 2010, in San Jose, Costa Rica. The aim was to create interchange among the main actors dealing with community water management in the region.
Caribbean Ministers of Water will meet to discuss water security at the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean’s (GWP-C) and the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association’s (CWWA), 6th High Level Session (HLS) in Grenada on October 3rd and 4th, 2010.
Key challenges in Central Asia are the degradation of ecosystems and increasing water deficiency. It is a region of scarce water resources, many of which cut across national borders. The intensive use of the limited resources leads to conflicts of interest, making transboundary water resources management crucial to the sustainability of the region’s resources.
In the last two years, UN-Water and GWP have conducted studies to assess progress made in IWRM planning and implementation. The UN-Water global assessment includes case studies with illustrations of the tangible benefits of an integrated approach.
At the UK Houses of Parliament on June 6 the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC) launched “Tackling the World Water Crisis – Reshaping the Future of Foreign Policy”. The FPC paper includes a chapter on “Water Scarcity and Global Megacities” submitted by GWP.