This online session is planned for 2 November 2022. In this 14th installment, we investigate the relationship between data and decision-making over transboundary waters.
Update 26 July 2021: Please note that the submission deadline for this survey was 25 July 2021. Many thanks to everyone who participated, we greatly appreciate your input!
On March 8th every year, the world celebrates the International Women's Day - a global day highlighting the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It is also a day to mark the call to action for accelerating gender parity and raise awareness about women's rights.
Mr Nanda Abeywickrama, (former Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Land Development (1978-88) and Director, International Co-operation (1988-94) also worked as a Special Adviser to the Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) from 1997 to 2005. In 1998, Mr Abeywickrama’s name was recommended by the then Director General, IWMI and appointed as a founding member of the Global Water Partnership Technical Advisory Committee for South Asia (SASTAC). Later, he held the position of Regional Chair of GWP South Asia (GWP SAS) from 2005 when the SAS Secretariat was moved to Sri Lanka under the hosting agreement with IWMI. He served as the Chair, GWP SAS from 2005-06 and weaned away from work gradually. Currently, Mr Abeywickrama is in his retirement living with his beloved wife in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Southern Africa is endowed with a complex network of river systems, which are formed extensively from shared watercourses. 15 of the river basins within the region are shared between one or more countries, 13 of which are shared fully within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Cooperation is needed to promote sustainable management, development, and use of these shared water resources. This was one of the recommendations given during the special session on river basin organisations convened by SADC, OKACOM, and GWPSA on 20 October 2022 at the 23rd WaterNet/ WARFSA/ GWPSA Symposium.
In our series of inter-regional discussions on gender equality and social inclusion, GWP Senior Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist Liza Debevec is exploring the ‘Action Areas’ of the GWP Gender Action Piece, to identify what GWP as an institution can do to apply them. In the fourth and final discussion, she talked to Hycinth Banseka and Julienne Roux about the issue of equal access to and control of resources. Banseka, who is Regional Coordinator for GWP Central Africa, says it is a complex issue in Africa, where the cultural context of each country demands different approaches, and where language and long-term thinking are key to progress.
Year 2021 has been quite challenging for everyone. Nevertheless, GWP CEE did it’s best to push the GWP mission forward. Let’s review the deeds together.