In response to a decision of Heads of the Central Asian States to address the critical issues of water resources, climate change and ecosystem loss in the Aral Sea basin, GWP Central Asia and Caucasus became the platform for policy dialogues in all eight Central Asian nations.
GWP Ethiopia launched pilot projects in the Berki and Messena watersheds to promote IWRM, establish a framework for broader stakeholder participation, and enhance grassrootslevel water management practices.
Since 2004 the Finnish government has provided support to GWP Central Asia and Caucasus (GWP CACENA). One result has been the establishment of five Country Water Partnerships, including Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in 2008.
At a regional meeting of the Uzbekistan Central Asia and South Caucasus Water Utilities Network (CASCWUN), held in Tashkent in March 2008, representatives of 14 water utilities from seven CACENA countries signed an agreement on the network’s statutes and a programme of joint activities for 2008–2009.
GWP CACENA has enlisted the support of the Helsinki University of Technology and the Water and Development Group to implement IWRM principles on the ground.
Three El Salvadoran water networks, GWP El Salvador, the Network of Water and Sanitation of El Salvador (RASES) and Foro del Agua, worked together to produce a research study showing that spending on water and sanitation in the country had been steadily decreasing.
The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) issued a news release in September to announce the scientific results of the Joint Danube Survey 2 (JDS2) –“possibly the world’s biggest river research expedition ever.” The survey indicates that “the Danube and its tributaries are becoming cleaner,” said the release.