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GWP and four of its partner institutions are organising a joint training on International Water Law (IWL) in Africa. The training will take place in Kampala, Uganda, 5-12 June 2016. It is open for up to 40 participants, and funding is available for 30 African-based participants. |
(IWL) in Africa
Global Water Partnership Southern Africa attended training on the application of Environmental Flows in the management of transboundary river basins in Southern Africa, with a special focus on the Pungwe River Basin. The training which brought together about 20 participants was an IUCN initiative and was held from 30th November to 3rd December in Cape Town, South Africa. The main parties involved were the government representatives of both Mozambique and Zimbabwe who share the river Basin and therefore needed to come together and agree on the Environmental Flows requirements to ensure equitable socio-economic development and growth.
The National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS) that was adopted in July 2014 was officially launched by the Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the 19th of November 2015 at Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare, Zimbabwe. The launch was attended by senior government officials, representatives from different organisations in the water sector and the local leadership drawn from the 9 Provinces around the country. The launch came at a time when Zimbabwe is stepping up efforts towards climate change adaptation and mitigation as witnessed by the development of the Strategy and the Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs) to support the process.
The Water, Climate and Development Programme was re-launched during a session held during the UNFCCC COP21 conference taking place in Paris, France on 1st December, 2015. GWP is responding to the climate change challenge through the Global Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) which includes a portfolio of programmes and projects aiming to build climate resilience through better water management. The WACDEP in Africa programmes and projects are being implemented on behalf of the African Union and African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), and in collaboration with relevant governments and regional economic development communities.
GWP is participating in the UNFCCC COP21 conference taking place in Paris, France from 30 November until 11 December. Funding for water resources management and future financing mechanisms are two of the topics that GWP will speak up for at the gathering. Read more:
The Limpopo River Basin (LRB) which has a total population of 18 million with 15 million in South Africa, 1.2 in Botswana, 1.1 million people in Mozambique, 0.8 million in Zimbabwe is prone to natural disasters as a result of climate change. Therefore, on the 24th of November, 2015, Resilience in the Limpopo Basin Program (RESILIM) in partnership with Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP SA) undertook an in-country consultation workshop on the development of the Limpopo River Basin Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Action Plan.
A validation to the draft 4th Regional Work programme; the Regional Strategic Action Plan (RSAP IV) was made at the 7th SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue held in Windhoek, Namibia from the 29th to the 30the September, 2015. Subsequently, the Water Resources Technical Committee (WRTC) approved the plan at its meeting after the dialogue.
The 16th WaterNet/WARFSA/GWP-SA Symposium was held on the island of Mauritius at Le Méridien Hotel from the 28 to 30 of October 2015 under the theme ‘Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Infrastructure Planning for Water Security in Southern Africa’. The University of Mauritius, a GWPSA partner was the lead host of the Symposium. The Symposia has been held annually in the Eastern and Southern African region for the past 15 years to promote interaction among policymakers, academics, practitioners from water and related sectors, and cooperating partners.
2015 is a milestone with the new UN Sustainable Development Goals and the upcoming COP 21 on Climate Change in Paris in December. For the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), 2015 is the “water” year. Water is the main agricultural production factor impacted by climate change. In the Global Water Partnership (GWP), partners are joining forces at country, regional and global levels to contribute to sustainable development in the face of climate change. This initiative, in Sub Saharan Africa, will, in an inclusive manner, identify challenges and technical and institutional priority actions, and implement concrete activities at all levels. Read more
Right at the heart of Namibia, “the land of the brave”, in the capital Windhoek was the venue for the 7th SADC Multi- stakeholder Water Dialogue held from the 29th to the 30th of September, 2015. Held under the theme, “Watering Development in SADC: The central role of water in driving industrialization” the dialogue was attended by 150 delegates from across the region representing the water sector, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), cooperating and development partners, academia, the media, and other relevant stakeholders from non-water entities (energy, agriculture, industrialization). The delegates, of which a good number were youth were brought together to deliberate the role that water will play in driving industrialization in the region.