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Water security is under intense pressure in many urban areas, and the very nature of urbanisation contributes to water stress situations both from a quantity and quality perspective. It is within this context that on 12^th June 2015 at Meikles Hotel, Zimbabwe, Global Water Partnership co-jointly with the African Development Bank through the Africa Water Facility (AWF) gathered 45 participants at an Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) workshop. 

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) network was tasked to facilitate consultations on water and food security at country level in order to provide concerned governments with widely shared position on water and food security issues and challenges in their respective countries. The Zimbabwe Water Partnership (ZWP) through a committee comprised mainly from the food and water sectors spearheaded the water-food consultations.

At the SADC Water Week in Mozambique held from 20-22 May, 2015, stakeholders discussed the challenging aspects of managing water resources in the country in view of Mozambique sharing a number of river basins with its neighbours. For instance, the supply of water for the river basins located in the southern part of the country is heavily dependent on the Basins of international rivers.  The solution to this challenge was seen in Mozambique requiring to always adapt an integrated water resources management approach and having long-term cooperative arrangements with its neighbours to avoid water availability being a constraint on future growth.

The Government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development assured that the Malawi government is working hard to address the challenges rocking the water sector in the country. Malawi hosted the SADC national week whose focus is on mainstreaming gender in water issues. The event was held from 13-15 May, 2015 at Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe. The SADC Water Week, held under the theme “From Vision to Action” was attended by delegates from government ministries, civil society and the private sector. 

The International Land Coalition (ILC), Global Water Partnership (GWP) and International Water Management Institute (IWMI) has brought together land and water professionals, researchers and policy makers to reflect on the linkages between water and land in the emerging geopolitics of food, and to discuss cases from global, regional, basin, national or local levels, where these linkages were successfully addressed in legal frameworks, policy, and/or practice. The workshop is being held in Pretoria from 15 – 16 June 2015.

 

On the 24th of May 2015, in Dakar, Senegal, GWPSA was presented at a validation workshop of the draft Priority Action Plan (PAP) for addressing Transboundary Water Resources Management. The workshop went towards the process of mainstreaming the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) Strategic Framework on Water Security and Climate Resilient Development. The workshop was attended by Representatives from the following organisations; African Union Commission (AUC), AMCOW Secretariat, AMCOW-TAC Chair and TAC Vice Chairs Regional Economic Communities (RECs), River and Lake Basin Organisations (R/LBOs) and Global Water Partnership.

The Synthesis Report on Economically Water Insecure (EWI) Regions presents a documentation of the proceedings held at the 7th World Water Forum in April 2015. The report was prepared by GWP Senior Advisor Alan Hall, as Coordinator for the EWI sessions.

 

This session was organised by a partnership of five international organisations from four continents: African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Development Bank of Latin America, Global Water Partnership and K-Water.

 

As part of the Regional Process of the 7th World Water Forum in Gyeongju, a series of five sessions were held with a focus on EWI regions. The sessions brought together participants from four regions to share experiences and lessons from countries/regions facing similar water and economic constraints - without being constrained by traditional regional geographical boundaries.

The follow up will form part of the proposed SDG Initiative through which the poorest and most water insecure countries will be helped in the future work programme.

Access the Synthesis Report here.

 

Madagascar held its SADC Water Week on the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th June at the Ivato Conference Centre in Antananarivo. This event was held in high esteem given the present context in Madagascar. In fact, it has just been about 17 months since Madagascar was welcomed back in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). On Wednesday the 3^rd, a joint session was held for media experts and the youth to provide them with some relevant background information on this SADC initiative. The meeting brought together  youth from the water sector and beyond, as well as media experts from various ministries, some NGOs, civil societies and academic institutions.

National consultations towards consolidating Madagascar’s input into the RSAP formulation were held at the Ivato Conference Centre (CCI) on 4^th and 5^th June in Antananarivo. It saw the attendance of more than 200 various national stakeholders from all water-related sectors in Madagascar. Media experts as well as youth were fully represented.

Mauritius joined the other SADC countries in providing input to the 4^th phase of the Regional Water Programme by holding a workshop in the context of the SADC Water Week on 3 and 4^th June 2015. The meeting held at Voilà Hotel in Bagatelle was opened by Mr. Ivan Collendavallo, Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, and attended by 60 stakeholders from the water sector, supporting sectors, media and youth.