
Global Water Partnership – Southern Africa (GWP-SAf) hosted the 6th Water, Climate and Development Programme for Africa (WACDEP) Technical Coordination Workshop. The workshop took place in Harare, Zimbabwe from 15th – 19th September 2014.
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.
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.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are deemed to be some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. This is in part attributed to sea-level rise, coupled with the small size of these territories amidst growing populations and other development challenges. Of these development challenges, achieving water security remains an enduring issue which will only be further exacerbated by the threat of climate change.
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.