In the race to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the role of small-scale WATSAN (water and sanitation) providers is indispensable. However, as this report "Small-scale finance for water and sanitation" claims, there is little awareness or cohesion among external support sgencies (ESAs), including EU donors, on the best way to increase financing for small-scale providers.
On World Water Day 22 March 2012, it was announced that a close partner organization of GWP, the International Water Management Institute, wins this year's Stockholm Water Prize “for for their pioneering research that has served to improve agriculture water management, enhance food security, protect environmental health and alleviate poverty in developing countries.”
Situated in the Southeastern Europe by the Black Sea, Romania borders Bulgaria, Hungary, Moldova, Serbia, and Ukraine. It has a temperate climate with cold winters, frequently accompanied by snow and sunny summers. In terms of terrain, the central Transylvanian Basin is separated from the Moldavian Plateau on the east by the Eastern Carpathian Mountains and separated from the Walachian Plain on the south by the Transylvanian Alps. Romania has substantial natural reserves, including petroleum (declining reserve), timber, natural gas, coal and iron ore.
The High-Level Roundtable on Water Resources Management System Development in China was organized by GWP China on April 20, 2012, in Beijing. The meeting aimed at establishing water management mechanisms with well-defined duties, rights and responsibilities, coordination mechanisms for the development of river basins, and facilitating stricter and better water management through the integrated water resources management approach.
Held in Buenos Aires in November, the 12th Conference of Ibero-American Water Directors (CODIA) confirmed the 11 targets and the key political messages initially proposed as part of the Americas' preparatory process for the 6th World Water Forum.
Local leaders in the Bhutan districts of Tashi Yangtse and Samdrup Jongkhar participated in GWP workshops to learn about integrated water resources management (IWRM).
In 2010, the devastating floods in Pakistan directly affected about 20 million people, mostly by destruction of property, livelihood and infrastructure. GWP Pakistan is now collaborating with UNESCO to launch a project in cooperation with the Government of Japan that aims to upgrade the flood forecasting and early warning systems of Pakistan, and to conduct risk mapping of flood plains along the Indus River.
The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) organized, in cooperation with GWP Central and Eastern Europe, the youth competition “International Danube Art Master”.