Under Water and Climate Development Programme (WACDEP), Myanmar WACDEP activity title is Development of the National Water Policy and Water Law with Integrating Water Security and Climate Resilience Aspects into Investment Planning and Decision making Process. Its goal is to point out the integration of water security and climate resilience aspects to be included in the national water policy and water law. With aiming the goal of the activity, the works have been initiated with making two assessment studies, such as, Assessment of the National Water Policy of Myanmar (NWPM) and Assessment of the Current Situation of Water Security and Climate Resilience Aspects in Myanmar. After that identification of these aspects to be integrated in NWPM, how to implement the integration process by means of consultative meeting which will be held among multi-stakeholders from water sector. Finally selecting and prioritizing the action plans for integrating water security and climate resilience aspects into the NWPM.

Malaysian Water Partnership, in collaboration with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (DID), conducted the Stakeholder Forum for Incorporating Climate Resilience in the National Water Resources Policy Action Plans on the 27th and 28th of October 2014. This activity was a response to the launch of Malaysia’s National Water Resources Policy on 24 March 2012 which recognized climate change as an important issue to be addressed in the policy formulation. This forum was attended by 90 people from 40 institutions.

Water resources are sensitive to variation in climatic pattern. Climate change is likely to intensify extreme weather event including droughts, floods and tropical storms. It is a fact in Indonesia that sustainability of freshwater is already threatened by severe watershed degradation, pollution, and over-allocation. Furthermore climate change will aggravate these threats to a point of irreversibility if no counter measures.

WaterInnEU project, coordinated by Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Application (CREAF) in Spain, started in March 2015. 

The capacity needs for youth on IWRM in Lao PDR is strongly needed to advocate the knowledge and skills which they can further support and disseminate among their specific groups in the schools, universities and communities. Youth has more creative ideas and lots of activities related to environmental protection as well as some of water protection – water saving campaign, etc.

The government of Lao PDR is working very constructively to improve the water resources planning and management system in Lao PDR especially in the formal higher education system.

Through the Lao Water Partnership, Mr. Chanthanet Boualapha, Director General of Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment who acts as chairperson of Lao Water Partnership opened the consultation on mainstreaming the IWRM in the formal higher education system. He expressed on the important of IWRM progress and application in Laos context for a decade as well as capacity building on this field. He also addressed the importance of the strengthening the local capacity in the whole country for IWRM decentralization and human resource development including emphasizing on integration and mainstreaming IWRM /IRBM approach into education system in each level.

This year’s World Water Day theme is “Water and Sustainable Development”. Preparatory work for celebrating the day is underway in several countries, with the main UN celebration taking place in New Delhi, India, on 20 March. Building up to the event, GWP’s #watergoal campaign has been stepped up.

Α Regional Roundtable & a Working Meeting on “Water, Food, Energy and Environment Nexus in South East Europe” were organized by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean (GWP-Med) and Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), in cooperation with the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), Global Environment Facility (GEF) International Waters: Learning Exchange and Resources Network (IW:LEARN) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

In 2014 GWP Philippines carried out advocacy work to promote Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), targeting the youth and local government officials and other concerned stakeholders.

During the year, Vietnam Water Partnership reviewed the existing irrigation management status and plan as well as drafted a proposal for new irrigation management plan. Two key government institutions, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) of Vietnam, are fully supporting the implementation of the activities that are under WACDEP program. Vietnam Water Partnership also coordinated closely with National Focal Point of Vietnam to UNFCCC, which will utilize the results of this program into other program of climate change agenda in the country.