News

In a breakthrough for water, the 7th African Development Forum held in Addis Ababa in October put water on the infrastructure agenda alongside energy, transport and communications. This marked a turning point in overcoming resistance to large water projects stemming from negative perceptions of social and environmental impacts.

The Eritrean Country Water Partnership has played an important role in the planning process of the Eritrean IWRM plan, which started at the end of 2005.

The Ethiopian Country Water Partnership and GWP Eastern Africa have implemented an IWRM pilot project in the Berki River Basin to establish a framework and to promote the application of IWRM at the catchment level.

Address by GWP Executive Secretary Dr Ania Grobicki's at the 2nd Pan-African Implementation and Partnership Conference on Water Supply and Sanitation, 11 November 2009, Johannesburg, South Africa.

In December, 120 people, including members of parliamentary committees, director generals, representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), other multilateral organisations, and international and local NGOs validated the Burundi IWRM Plan and demanded immediate implementation.

The Global Water Partnership Eastern Africa recently organised a workshop in Mombasa with a team of environmental experts and civil society members from the region to develop climate change adaptation strategies.

GWP Acting Executive Secretary Martin Walshe together with Network Officer Aly Kerdany and representatives of the GWP Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, Western Africa & Central Africa regions attended the Joint Meetings of the African Ministers’ Council On Water(AMCOW), African Development Bank (ADB), and UN Water in Addis Ababa 7-9 October 2008.

GWP Ethiopia launched pilot projects in the Berki and Messena watersheds to promote IWRM, establish a framework for broader stakeholder participation, and enhance grassrootslevel water management practices.