Global Water Partnership - GWP

Pan-African community of practice established

Water practitioners across Africa have a new forum in which to network and share experiences, case studies, and ideas about transboundary water cooperation following the establishment of a community of practice, the Pan African Transboundary Governance Lab.

Acknowledging the importance of cooperation in managing shared resources and good governance of transboundary waters to ensuring water security, peace, stability, and sustainable socio-economic development in Africa, the community of practice was set up in 2022 to serve as a knowledge exchange and discussion space.

Membership of the community of practice, which can be found in GWPโ€™s IWRM Action Hub, is open to transboundary water practitioners from within Africa and beyond, including all alumni of GWPโ€™s Water Governance and International Water Law training. A hybrid online/in-person training session held in September 2022, hosted jointly by GWP Eastern Africa and the Water Resources Institute, Uganda, attracted 128 transboundary water practitioners from 13 countries, who were all encouraged to join the community of practice.

Women empowered to use rainwater harvesting systems

A gender-transformative business case study presented by the Kigezi Diocese Water and Sanitation Programme (KDWSP) in Uganda, which explored the economic and societal benefits of training women to use rainwater harvesting systems, was replicated in a local demonstration project in 2022 with the support of GWP Eastern Africa. The project promoted water harvesting and storage to improve water and food security, and gender equality in access to and control over roof rainwater harvesting and storage interventions. It also supported implementation of the Gender Action Plan for Maziba Catchment in the Victoria Basin.

GWP Eastern Africa engaged with KDWSP to train women to use rainwater harvesting technologies, helping them acquire the technical and artisanal skills needed to construct roof rainwater harvesting and storage systems. This enhanced their access to water for domestic use and for small-scale production and self-employment, empowering them to improve their lives. The women benefiting from the training reported a change in mindset about some of the social norms underpinning gender inequality. Some trained women are also using simple technologies to harvest and store rainwater to reduce the soil run offs that commonly occur during the rainy season in the hills of Kigezi.

Validating an early warning system for drought

The HUSIKA Multilayered Information Management System (MIMS) is an innovative and sustainable ICT platform that seeks to help build resilience to climate-related hazards and disasters in the Horn of Africa. Developed by the IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Center, together with the Sahara and Sahel Observatory, and funded by the Adaptation Fund, the platform was validated in 2022 as a drought early warning system during a meeting of stakeholders convened by GWP Eastern Africa.

HUSIKA MIMS shares information via a mobile app, a website, and a short messaging service (SMS). Information is cascaded through national, regional, and local levels before end users are sent a simple text message providing them with relevant weather forecasts, drought updates, or other necessary information. Alerts to local events that might pose danger, and advice on how to avert associated risks, can also be sent.

Communication works both ways, and end users can reply to messages they receive, passing on information about the situation on the ground or about the issue at hand. This crowd-sourcing of data feeds information back up through the levels and enhances collaboration.