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Stemming from the realisation of the inherent linkages between governance and the mobilisation of financial resources for the water sector, the aim of the Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector Project has been to diagnose related bottlenecks and identify plausible and realistic recommendations to help overcome them.

Tanzania from 11-13 March kick-starts the Southern African Development Community (SADC) National Consultations to be held in all the 15 SADC member states. The consultations, to be held under the theme “From Vision to Action”, will provide a platform for (SADC) to engage and interact with the various stakeholders in mapping the strategic direction of the regional water resources management, SADC will be undertaking national consultations in the SADC Water Weeks within 15 of the SADC member countries. In each country, the platform will be provided through three main activities (media training, a youth forum and a national consultation). The national consultations are being facilitated by the SADC secretariat and implemented by GWP SA through the Country Water Partnerships (CWPs). Additionally, each consultation is being hosted by the ministry responsible for water in each country.

Date: 24 March 2015

Venue: Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform, Islamabad, Pakistan

The Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) will be a key supporter of the Malta Water Week, to be held on March 25-26, 2015, along, among other, the Sustainable Energy and Water Conservation Unit of the Maltese Ministry for Energy and Health, the EIP (European Innovation Partnership)-Secretariat, the European Regions Research and Innovation Network, as well as the Maltese Water Services Corporation. The Malta Water Week is being organised by Paragon Europe, within the framework of the “Water Efficiency in European Urban Areas” - WE@EU Project, with the aim to create an open platform for EU excellence in sustainable and efficient urban water management that will enable participating clusters and regions to bring together knowledge and innovation potential by collaborating and mutually learning on a trans-national basis.

In Thailand the risk disaster early warning system has been designated by law to the department of the disaster prevention and mitigation.  However, the representation of the department is only at the provincial level. The assistance from the department has been seen as not enough and not in time and communities were stimulated to recognize their own risk and the need to work together to solve or reduce the flood risk.

 

Pic Description from left to right:
1. mapping out of their own communities self actualization 
2. early warning sign water level in the risk area spotted by local groups
3. preparing for the survey 
4. Table top drill for risk prevention and mitigation

A validation workshop of the Africa Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW) Sub-Regional Report for the World Water Forum 7 took place on 15^th January 2015 at Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa. The workshop was aimed at obtaining technical alignment from country contributions at sub regional level, under a sub-regional workshop organized by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)– as a sub region secretariat of AMCOW.

Water governance remains a key challenge in the Mediterranean. Efforts of countries focus on improving policies making and action planning, institutional settings, law and regulation, enforcement mechanisms, innovative financing, application of cost recovery and polluter pays principle, etc. To achieve sustainable models of development, water must be mainstreamed into other sectoral policies such as agriculture, land planning and use, energy, industry, tourism and trade. Political will is key for making these happen. The importance of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, equity, poverty and rights, is increasingly recognized but is still relatively poorly tackled.

GWP-Med aims at putting IWRM, as well as the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems Nexus approach, into practice to help countries towards growth and water security emphasizing good governance, appropriate infrastructure and sustainable financing. In doing so, it focuses on contributing to and advocating for solutions for critical challenges to water security, such as climate change impacts, urbanisation, food insecurity, energy insecurity, ecosystems threats, unemployment, migration, etc.

On 27-28 November 2014 the Global Forum on Environment: "New Perspective on the Water-Energy-Food-Nexus" was held in the OECD headquarters in Paris.