The WACDEP Capacity Development Programme Newsletter as of August 2014 is now online. Please follow the link to read the full report. More information about the programme can be found here.
An Expert Task Force of the joint GWP/OECD project “Global Dialogue on Water Security and Sustainable Growth” has presented provisional results of research into the economics of water security. Although still a work in progress, some striking patterns stand out, and the experts believe this could be a game changer in the quest for a dedicated water goal in the post-2015 development agenda, as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be decided upon.
AMCOW Executive Secretary Bai Mass Taal delivered a statement from Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia and Patron of Global Water Partnership, at the opening ceremony of World Water Week 2014:
GWP is introducing several new publications at World Water Week 2014: two GWP Technical Committee Background Papers, one Perspectives Paper, one Briefing Note and one Proceedings Paper. All of these are available online, and in hard copy through the GWP online order form.
GWP is involved in a number of events at this year’s World Water Week in Stockholm. Among the highlights is a joint GWP/OECD Side Event on the “Global Dialogue on Water Security and Sustainable Growth”, where a high level panel will address the water security challenge and present the early results of an Expert Task Force.
Every year, the GWP network gathers for two big meetings: the Regional Days and the Consulting Partners meeting. This year’s gathering took place in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, on 23-28 June 2014, with GWP Caribbean as host. The partners of GWP Caribbean agreed on the need for collaborative work.
A South-South Learning Exchange took place in the Asa Wright Nature Centre, Trinidad on 26th June 2014. A first of its kind south-south knowledge exchange between Africa and the Caribbean on water security and climate resilient development was held as a side event during the 2014 Global Water Partnership (GWP) Network and Consulting Partners Meeting, sought to enable lessons and experience sharing across the regions based on initiatives planned and realized under GWP’s global Water, Climate and Development (WACDEP) programme.
Global institutions are still in the learning phase when it comes to successfully managing water and energy in an integrated manner as part of the quest for sustainable development. According to World Bank official Daryl Fields, understanding the water-energy nexus is critical for addressing growth and human development, urbanisation and climate change, but many policy-makers are finding it challenging to transform this concept into a reality. Fields, who is also a Technical Committee member of the Global Water Partnership, was speaking at a recent meeting of the GWP Consulting Partners, held in Trinidad for the first time.
The “Financing of sustainable water resources management and development: economics, financing opportunities and project preparation” is the focus of high-level regional training and knowledge exchange in Pretoria, South Africa from the 21st -24th July, 2014. 27 Delegates from African countries and River Basin Organisations working in the water are meeting to increase their knowledge and skills, to attract investors and financial development partners for both water governance and water infrastructure development.