The Pontifical Javeriana University, hosted a preparatory meeting in March. This meeting convened a large majority of the membership and was open to new interested organisations, some of them later joined the partnership. In June, with the strong support and endorsement of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, GWP Partners in Colombia gathered in Bogota to establish the “Alianza Colombiana para el Agua”, the local name of GWP Colombia.
Colombia is a country recognised by its technical capacity in Latin America and beyond. GWP Colombia somehow mirrors this capacity since amongst its 52 partners it counts prominent universities, international NGOs, governmental organisations, professionals’ associations, and other organisations who will certainly contribute to the sound management of water in this country.
The country is sixth in the world in terms of renewable water resources (only after Brazil, Russia, USA, Canada and China), that drain to the Pacific Ocean, the Amazon and the Orinoco basins. However, the availability of the resource for Colombians is scarce, since nearly 80% of the population and the country's economic activities are located in watersheds with a natural water deficit, as stated by the Director of the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies Institute (IDEAM).
Sound management of water in Colombia is of utmost importance not only for its almost 50 million inhabitants and the country´s sustainable development, but for humanity as a whole, since Colombia is considered one of the top most megadiverse countries on Earth.