The SADC Water week in Zambia was held in Lusaka from 8th - 10 July 2015. It was a rich and fruitful event which brought together a variety of stakeholders to input into the formulation of the 4th SADC Regional Strategic Action Plan.

In a quest to leverage funding for projects in the water sector, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate (MEWC) in collaboration with the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) hosted a Water Resources and Infrastructure Investment Conference at Rainbow Towers in Harare from the 24^th to the 26^th of June 2015. The conference attracted more than 400 delegates and was officially opened by the Vice President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, the Honourable E.D Mnangagwa and was also graced by the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation for the Republic of South Africa, the Honourable Pamela Tshwete and Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, the Honourable Saviour Kasukuwere.

The 16th WaterNet/WARFSA/GWP-SA symposium, under the theme “Integrated Water Resources Management and Infrastructure Planning for Water Security in Southern Africa”, will be held at Le Meridien lle Maurice Hotel, Mauritius from 28 - 30 October 2015.

Water security is under intense pressure in many urban areas, and the very nature of urbanisation contributes to water stress situations both from a quantity and quality perspective. It is within this context that on 12^th June 2015 at Meikles Hotel, Zimbabwe, Global Water Partnership co-jointly with the African Development Bank through the Africa Water Facility (AWF) gathered 45 participants at an Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) workshop. 

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) network was tasked to facilitate consultations on water and food security at country level in order to provide concerned governments with widely shared position on water and food security issues and challenges in their respective countries. The Zimbabwe Water Partnership (ZWP) through a committee comprised mainly from the food and water sectors spearheaded the water-food consultations.

At the SADC Water Week in Mozambique held from 20-22 May, 2015, stakeholders discussed the challenging aspects of managing water resources in the country in view of Mozambique sharing a number of river basins with its neighbours. For instance, the supply of water for the river basins located in the southern part of the country is heavily dependent on the Basins of international rivers.  The solution to this challenge was seen in Mozambique requiring to always adapt an integrated water resources management approach and having long-term cooperative arrangements with its neighbours to avoid water availability being a constraint on future growth.

The Government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development assured that the Malawi government is working hard to address the challenges rocking the water sector in the country. Malawi hosted the SADC national week whose focus is on mainstreaming gender in water issues. The event was held from 13-15 May, 2015 at Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe. The SADC Water Week, held under the theme “From Vision to Action” was attended by delegates from government ministries, civil society and the private sector. 

The International Land Coalition (ILC), Global Water Partnership (GWP) and International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has brought together land and water professionals, researchers and policy makers to reflect on the linkages between water and land in the emerging geopolitics of food, and to discuss cases from global, regional, basin, national or local levels, where these linkages were successfully addressed in legal frameworks, policy, and/or practice. The workshop is being held in Pretoria from 15 – 16 June 2015.

 

On the 24th of May 2015, in Dakar, Senegal, GWPSA was presented at a validation workshop of the draft Priority Action Plan (PAP) for addressing Transboundary Water Resources Management. The workshop went towards the process of mainstreaming the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) Strategic Framework on Water Security and Climate Resilient Development. The workshop was attended by Representatives from the following organisations; African Union Commission (AUC), AMCOW Secretariat, AMCOW-TAC Chair and TAC Vice Chairs Regional Economic Communities (RECs), River and Lake Basin Organisations (R/LBOs) and Global Water Partnership.

The Synthesis Report on Economically Water Insecure (EWI) Regions presents a documentation of the proceedings held at the 7th World Water Forum in April 2015. The report was prepared by GWP Senior Advisor Alan Hall, as Coordinator for the EWI sessions.

 

This session was organised by a partnership of five international organisations from four continents: African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Development Bank of Latin America, Global Water Partnership and K-Water.

 

As part of the Regional Process of the 7th World Water Forum in Gyeongju, a series of five sessions were held with a focus on EWI regions. The sessions brought together participants from four regions to share experiences and lessons from countries/regions facing similar water and economic constraints - without being constrained by traditional regional geographical boundaries.

The follow up will form part of the proposed SDG Initiative through which the poorest and most water insecure countries will be helped in the future work programme.

Access the Synthesis Report here.