News and Activities

GWP-Med, along with Bewater Project partner, INRGREF, organised a national training in Zaghouan, Tunisia, for 30 Tunisian Youth NGO members active in water resources management issues, on November, 13th-14th, in order to raise their capacity to address the challenge of sustainable water resources management under climate change constraints.

The Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) contributed to a key UNESCO handbook on science diplomacy and transboundary water management published in late 2015, focusing on the Orontes River case in Lebanon; this was the outcome of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) project “New technologies for an integrated and sustainable management of natural resources in Lebanon” financially supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

The Inception Meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) supported project “Enabling Transboundary Cooperation and Integrated Water Resources Management in the extended Drin River Basin” took place in Tirana, on 16 December 2015, at the presence of Mr. Edmond Panariti, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Water Administration, Mr. Ferid Agani, Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, as well as Mr. Stevo Temelkovski, Deputy Minister of Environment and Physical Planning.

The Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) has established a long-term, mutually benefitial collaboration agreement with the General Department for Planning and Conservation of Agricultural Lands at the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture on integrating climate change considerations in the latter’s new water and soil preservation planning, as well as on developing a territorial planning methodology using the Douimis basin as a pilot case.

The Transboundary Integrated Management Plan for the Buna/Bojana Area (“the Plan”) was presented during a Consultation Meeting on 7 September 2015, in Ulcinj, Montenegro. The Plan was jointly prepared by the Regional Activity Centre for the Priority Actions Programme (PAP/RAC), Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) and UNESCO ‐ International Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP), in the framework of the GEF UNEP/MAP Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Large Marine Ecosystem (MedPartnership).

The third and final “Climagine” consultation workshop was organised by the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med), in the framework of the regional ClimVar Project “Integration of the Climate Variability and Change Impacts in the Integrated Coastal Zones Management National Strategies”, through two consecutive consultations, one in the archipelago of Kerkennah in Southern Tunisia, on July 28^th, 2015 and one in Tunis the day after, both with more than 25 participants from key organisations involved in Tunisia and Kerkennah’s coastal management.

The Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) has established a formal agreement with the Department for Planning and Conservation of Agricultural Lands at the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture towards integrating climate change considerations in water and soil conservation planning, under the WACDEP (Water, Climate & Development) Programme; and in this context, it has entered a very fruitful collaboration with the Ministry, as well as the Regional Department for Agriculture in Bizerte, in Tunisia’s North, using the Douimis Basin in the Bizerte Region as a pilot for the development of the climate change mainstreaming methodology.

‘Improving water governance for achieving financial sustainability in the Mediterranean’ was the topic of the event organised by the Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean (GWP-Med), within the ‘Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector’ project, during the World Water Week in Stockholm, on 25 August 2015. The event - closely related to this year’s theme on ‘Water for Development’ - focused on the needed pro-poor, inclusive and gender-sensitive actions for better governance and on the impact that this can have on the financial sustainability of the water sector leading to sustainable development.

Towards a more active youth role in water resources management and climate change adaptation.