Earlier in 2017 a newly established Youth Water Community Central and Eastern Europe started a project about the reduction of plastic pollution in the river Ishmi in Albania. The project’s first activity was a workshop with local students that took place on 5 December at the Agricultural University of Tirana.

More than 140 decision makers and representatives of government, civil society, international organisations, donors, financing institutions, and the private and banking sector, came together for 3 days sharing experiences and discussing needs, challenges and next steps during the “Conference on Water Governance in MENA and wider Mediterranean region” that was held in Barcelona, on 12-14 December. The Regional Conference was organised under the auspices of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), by two UfM-labelled projects supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), namely the Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector project led by GWP-Med, and the Regional Water Integrity Capacity Building Programme in MENA, led by SIWI UNDP Water Governance Facility. The Conference was organised in close and strategic synergy with the EU-funded Sustainable Water Integrated Management and Horizon 2020 Support Mechanism (SWIM-H2020 SM) regional project.

In recognition of the increasing pollution in the Chubachu stream compounded by poor waste management, the National Environment Commission Secretariat in collaboration with the Thimphu Thromde, Royal Society for Protection of Nature (RSPN)/Bhutan Water Partnership (BhWP) and Clean Bhutan decided to adopt and spearhead the cleaning of Chubachu stream. The adoption was launched on 22 March 2017 in observation of the World Water Day, which was followed by a mass cleaning campaign.

The 3rd Consultation Workshop on enhancing the potential for Private Sector Participation in Water Infrastructure in Lebanon, with emphasis on the role of Banks was organised in Beirut on the 8th November 2017, as part of the National Policy Dialogue on Water Governance and Financing. The Workshop involved more than 25 targeted representatives of relevant public institutions, private banks, regional organisations and NGOs.

GWP SAS held a Sub Regional Coordination Meeting leading to 8th World Water Forum in Brasilia back-to-back with the Annual Regional Council meeting on 29 October 2017 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The Global Water Partnership Mediterranean is seeking to hire an expert in the framework of WACDEP project for the activity:Study for the reinforcement of the water resources monitoring & evaluation system in Mauritania.

The investment potential in wastewater treatment and reuse in Middle East & North Africa (MENA) was discussed at a session organised by the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) during the recent World Water Week in Stockholm (27 August – 1 September 2017). This was part of the “MENA Focus” set of 4 sessions, led by key institutions in the Region.2017 was the 2nd year that a dedicated MENA Regional Focus was part of the World Water Weeks’ programme, alongside the Regional Focus Days for Africa, Asia and Latin America. In addition to the (co) organization of sessions, GWP-Med is coordinating the overall “MENA Focus”.

Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe releases today a video lecture on Natural Small Water Retention Measures which is available online for free and open to the public.

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 23 August 2017. The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on initiatives related to water resources and human health.