The Paris Climate Conference will take place in Paris in December 2015 (COP21). Governments, particularly sensitive to environmental and climate issues, are expected to commit the fate of the planet during the COP21.

The Minister of the City, Youth and Sports, Mr Patrick KANNER, also co-chairman of the board of OFQJ is actively acting to ensure that youth is also engaged in public policy for sustainable development.

19 to 22 April 2015 in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Below normal rainfall is most likely during the 2015 southwest monsoon season (June – September) over South Asia as a whole. Below-normal rainfall is likely over broad areas of western, central and south western parts of South Asia and some areas in the north eastern-most parts of the region. It is noteworthy that except southern part of islands of the region no other part of South Asia has above-normal rainfall as the most likely category.

Lebanon and Jordan are exploring the possibility of joining the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention). To assist the two countries in this process, UNECE and the Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean (GWP-Med), with financial support provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), have organised national workshops to increase awareness and understanding of relevant stakeholders of the different legal and institutional frameworks for cooperation on shared waters resources, the specificities of the UNECE Water Convention, in comparison to the UN Watercourses Convention, as well as the complementarity of the two agreements.

GWP-Med, announces a Call for Interest for Greywater Technologies available in the Mediterranean countries within the framework of the "Climate Change Adaptation through Non-Conventional Water Resources Management in North Mediterranean" (a.k.a. Alter Aqua).

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GWP China co-hosted three thematic sessions under the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) on IWRM, Water and Food Security as well as Water and Cities at the 7th World Water Forum that was opened on April 12, 2015 in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea. The GWP China Delegation of 9 members participated in the opening ceremony, sessions and events during the 6-day conference.

GWP China representatives were at the 7th World Water Forum in Korea in April, taking part in many of the events and sessions of the conference. In addition to delegates from the regional secretariat, some experts from GWP China Regional Water Partnerships were actively facilitating the processes.

Due to a growing need within the region for countries to agree on a water-related research agenda and themes, and to avoid duplication in research, a workshop on developing a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Water Research Agenda was held at St. George Hotel in Pretoria, South Africa from the 8th to the 9th of April 2015. The workshop was planned and organised conjointly by SADC and WaterNet with the cooperation of GWP SA.

Representatives of GWP Kenya and GWP Ethiopia recently carried out an exchange visit to share experiences on water resources management practices.

The GWP network celebrated World Water Day 2015 with a string of events throughout the world, from Central America to China. This a summary of some of the highlights, with links to reports.

The 3^rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) took place in Sendai, Japan, 14-18 March. The planned outputs were met, with the announcement of a Declaration and a new Outcome Document to replace the Hyogo Framework for Action; the UN's previous disaster risk reduction deal, which expires in 2015.