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The Water, Climate and Development Programme was re-launched during a session held during the UNFCCC COP21 conference taking place in Paris, France on 1^st December, 2015. GWP is responding to the climate change challenge through the Global Water, Climate and Development Programme (WACDEP) which includes a portfolio of programmes and projects aiming to build climate resilience through better water management. The WACDEP in Africa programmes and projects are being implemented on behalf of the African Union and African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW), and in collaboration with relevant governments and regional economic development communities.

GWP is participating in the UNFCCC COP21 conference taking place in Paris, France from 30 November until 11 December. Funding for water resources management and future financing mechanisms are two of the topics that GWP will speak up for at the gathering. Read more:

The Limpopo River Basin (LRB) which has a total population of 18 million with 15 million in South Africa, 1.2 in Botswana, 1.1 million people in Mozambique, 0.8 million in Zimbabwe is prone to natural disasters as a result of climate change. Therefore, on the 24^th of November, 2015, Resilience in the Limpopo Basin Program (RESILIM) in partnership with Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP SA) undertook an in-country consultation workshop on the development of the Limpopo River Basin Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Action Plan.

A validation to the draft 4^th Regional Work programme; the Regional Strategic Action Plan (RSAP IV) was made at the 7^th SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue held in Windhoek, Namibia from the 29^th to the 30the September, 2015. Subsequently, the Water Resources Technical Committee (WRTC) approved the plan at its meeting after the dialogue.  

The 16th WaterNet/WARFSA/GWP-SA Symposium was held on the island of Mauritius at Le Méridien Hotel from the 28 to 30 of October 2015 under the theme ‘Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and Infrastructure Planning for Water Security in Southern Africa’. The University of Mauritius, a GWPSA partner was the lead host of the Symposium. The Symposia has been held annually in the Eastern and Southern African region for the past 15 years to promote interaction among policymakers, academics, practitioners from water and related sectors, and cooperating partners.  

2015 is a milestone with the new UN Sustainable Development Goals and the upcoming COP 21 on Climate Change in Paris in December. For the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), 2015 is the “water” year. Water is the main agricultural production factor impacted by climate change. In the Global Water Partnership (GWP), partners are joining forces at country, regional and global levels to contribute to sustainable development in the face of climate change. This initiative, in Sub Saharan Africa, will, in an inclusive manner, identify challenges and technical and institutional priority actions, and implement concrete activities at all levels. Read more

Right at the heart of Namibia, “the land of the brave”, in the capital Windhoek was the venue for the 7th SADC Multi- stakeholder Water Dialogue held from the 29th to the 30th of September, 2015. Held under the theme, “Watering Development in SADC: The central role of water in driving industrialization” the dialogue was attended by 150 delegates from across the region representing the water sector, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), cooperating and development partners, academia, the media, and other relevant stakeholders from non-water entities (energy, agriculture, industrialization). The delegates, of which a good number were youth were brought together to deliberate the role that water will play in driving industrialization in the region.

The 11^th Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP SA) Consulting Partners meeting will be held from the 13^th to the 14^th of October 2015 in Pretoria, South Africa. The meeting that is held after every two years brings together the GWP Partners in Southern Africa, GWP SA Board, Regional Technical Committee (RTEC) and the GWP SA Secretariat staff. Also invited are the Strategic Partners with whom GWP SA has programmatic alliances, but these are self-funded.

The Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate (MEWC) in partnership with the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (ZAMCOM) organised the 1^st Zimbabwe Stakeholders Committee for the Zambezi meeting on the 18^th of September 2015. Water and Climate Change Programme (WACDEP) Zimbabwe team were among the 33 participants who converged at the Harare Safari Lodge to participate during the meeting.

The South African Development Community (SADC) in partnership with South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), and the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA) hosted the South Africa SADC Water Week which took place from 29-31 July 2015.