Recent floods across Central Europe have affected thousands of people, driving them from their homes. The Elbe, the Danube, the Vltava, and other rivers have overflowed their banks after several weeks of heavy rain. The floods caused extensive damage in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Slovakia.
Within the framework of implementing the climate change related commitments of the Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration on Water and Sanitation, GWP and AMCOW are implementing the Water Climate Development programe (WACDEP). The WACDEP aims to support African countries develop No/low regrets Water Security and Climate Resilience Investment Strategies, Plans and projects, and promote the integration of water security and climate resilience into national development plans.
Stakeholder consultation has led to improved services from the Nepal Water Supply Corporation – Biratnagar (NWSCB) that serves 10,000 households.
Many dialogues and seminars on river pollution have been organised over the past 20 years. Generally there is an agreement that countries desperately need to do something about the sad state of rivers, especially in countries which hope to achieve developed nation status by 2020.
Vanh Mixap from Laos and Elisabeth Tarigan from Indonesia have been awarded the GWP-Ken Thiess Scholarship with the International WaterCentre (IWC) in Australia.
Stakeholder consultation has led to improved services from the Nepal Water Supply Corporation – Biratnagar (NWSCB) that serves 10,000 households.
The Meuse and the Scheldt river basins are subjected to pollution and seasonal water shortages, as well as political clash of interests regarding maritime access. Action was taken to solve these issues by the Belgian government. However, although an agreement was eventually made, political issues made the process complex. From this case, it is apparent that a cross-sectoral approach that looks beyond the water sector is often instrumental in developing attractive package deals.
The Global Water Partnership will cooperate with McGill University in Canada on an IWRM online course by providing knowledge resources on all aspects related to IWRM including Water Resources Planning and Water Governance, Law and Policy through its knowledge platform the IWRM Toolbox.
The Lake Basin Development Authority was set up to manage the entire catchment area of all rivers draining into Lake Victoria. However, its performance was not to the expectation. A further, action was taken to decentralise management and priority was given to achieve access to basic water requirements for the poor, as well as quality of water and improving availability of water for livestock and irrigation. The key lesson learnt is the importance of a participatory approach.