On April 18, 2011, Ministers issued a Declaration expressing their support for the continuation and enhancement of the Drin Dialogue with the assistance of GWP Mediterranean and the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and for the preparation of the Shared Vision for the management of the Drin Basin.
GWP Mediterranean is a Consortium Member and the Technical Director of the regional technical assistance project Sustainable Water Integrated Management – Support Mechanism (SWIM-SM) that was launched by the European Commission in December 2010 to promote the extensive dissemination of sustainable water management policies and practices in the Mediterranean. SWIM-SM Partner countries are Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria and Tunisia. As a Technical Director, GWP Mediterranean oversees all activities and contributes technically to the implementation of the project.
GWP Mediterranean, as the Secretariat of the Mediterranean Component of the EU Water Initiative (MED EUWI), has since since 2005 supported the efforts of the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water towards an Integrated Water Management Planning in the country. Through technical assistance by the MED EUWI and GWP Mediterranean, the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) aims to put in place a decision support system to examine alternative water development and management strategies to support IWRM Planning.
In 2010 GWP Mediterranean and the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development continued, for the eighth year, to feed information and material on water issues and processes in the region to members of the Circle of Mediterranean Journalists for Environment and Sustainable Development (COMJESD).
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia share the Sava River Basin. As the after effects of the devastating war in the region have subsided, these countries have started to cooperate on environmental issues.
The Drin Dialogue, a systematic process coordinated by GWP Mediterranean, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other actors, has advanced consultation among Drin Basin countries and stakeholders on a shared vision for sustainable management.
GWP Mediterranean promotes rainwater harvesting (RWH) as a way to manage drought on islands in the region. RWH can help islands become more water secure and adapt to climate change.
As part of ongoing national policy dialogues in Egypt and Lebanon within the framework of MED-EUWI and the GEF MedPartnership, GWP Mediterranean and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) assessed issues for governments to consider regarding private sector investment in the water sector.
The integrated methodological framework (IMF) for integrated water resources management and integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) in the Mediterranean was finalised in 2010, the outcome of specialist technical work and extensive consultation.
New York: Greece has this month become the 21st country to ratify a global water treaty designed to reduce conflict and guide joint management over rivers and lakes forming or crossing international boundaries.