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The sixth SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue was held on 1-2 October 2013 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka, Zambia. The dialogue was sponsored by DANIDA and other cooperating partners (German Cooperation, Australian Aid, UK Aid).

WACDEP Zimbabwe held a Catchments and Sub-Catchments Consultation and Action Planning Workshop from 12-13 September 2013, in Kadoma, about 140km south-west of Harare. The workshop with the aim of contributing towards the review and submission of written comments for the first draft of the National Climate Change Response Strategy for Zimbabwe (NCCRS) attracted over 65 participants (chairpersons from some of the 47 Sub-catchment and 7 Catchments in Zimbabwe, and officials from MWRDM and Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA). Read more

Read what is happening in Water Management in Southern Africa in our June 2013 edition of the “Water Dialogue – A forum for Partnership Action in Water Management in Southern Africa”
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the Knowledge Management and Communications Officer, GWPSA

The GWP SA Consulting Partner’s (CP) meeting was held in Harare, Zimbabwe from 12-14 June 2013. The Consulting Partners Meeting is held every two years with the aim of engaging partners in discussions relating to network strengthening. Comprising a total of fifty participants, The CP meeting constituted GWPSA staff, 2 representatives from GWPSA’s Country Water Partnerships (CWPs), namely from ten countries: Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; Members from GWPSA Steering Committee, and Regional Technical Committee; and representatives from GWPSA’s implementing partners were present on behalf of their agencies. These included CAPNET, and Chemonics and the Climate Resilient Infrastructure Development Facility (CRIDF).

A workshop on Water Integrity took place from 20-22 May 2013 at Birchwood Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa. The workshop discussed the theme “Strengthening Civil Society and Media’s Role in Promoting Integrity and Accountability in the Water Sector”. The course was part of a larger capacity building programme on integrity and accountability in the water sector developed by the UNDP Water Governance Facility at SIWI, Cap-Net, WaterNet and the Water Integrity Network (WIN) in order to assist in building institutional capacity among key stakeholders. Previous workshops have targeted wa­ter managers, and other water decision-makers as primary target groups.

GWPSA participated in the 24^th Water Resources Committee (WRTC) meeting held on 7-8 May in Lusaka, Zambia. The WRTC delegates comprise directors of water departments in SADC member states and SADC implementing and co-financing agencies of the RSAP 3. GWPSA was present as an implementing partner of the Regional Water Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. Mr. Andrew Takawira, GWPSA Senior Programmes Manager, participated in the meeting and gave a presentation on GWPSAs upcoming activities in support of the RSAP 3, with specific mention to supporting Climate Change Adaptation in the Sector.   

The Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA) is an implementing partner for SADC providing programmatic support to the implementation of the RSAP III and is providing support to increasing engagement of stakeholders within the Phase III of the Transboundary Water Resources Management Programme. In the RSAP III, GWP SA is included as an implementing agent in delivering components of the SADC/ GIZ“Mainstreaming Climate Change in the SADC Water Sector”. The programme aims to ensure that more investments are made in the management and development of shared water courses and is being implemented under three work packages, namely:Work Package 1 (WP1) – Increasing and harnessing knowledge for us, Work Package 2 (WP2): Increasing stakeholder involvement; and Work Package 3 (WP3): Increasing Investments. 
In this regard, GWPSA is facilitating four studies within the SADC region, under work package 1 – “Increasing and harnessing knowledge for use”, with the following objectives:

A SADC/ UNESCO Workshop aimed to promote Cooperation and Conflict Prevention in Transboundary Water Resources was held at Phakalane Golf Estate Conference Centre, in Gaborone, Botswana from 25-27 February 2013. The 24 workshop participants included staff from SADC, GWPSA, UNESCO and SADC River Basin Organisation representatives. GWPSA was represented by Regional Programme Officer, Mr. Michael Ramaano. The workshop provided a platform for participants to share and exchange sub-regional experiences on water cooperation as well as learn more about designing and conducting negotiation processes on transboundary water-related issues.

On February 27-28, 2013, Global Water Partnership Southern Africa’s (GWPSA) Executive Secretary, Ms Ruth Beukman participated in the Post- 2015 Development Agenda Consultation on Water: Water Resources Management (WRM) and Wastewater Management & Water Quality (WWMWQ). Ms Beukman was invited by UN Water to be a panellist and was sponsored by UNECE to participate. The meeting was sponsored by the Government of Switzerland as part of the Thematic Consultation on Water, coordinated by UN-Water, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

The Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP SA) partnered with UNDP to follow up with a set of national dialogues on water. The water dialogues form part of the 11 thematic consultations now underway by the United Nations (UN) in preparation for developing Sustainable Development Goals (SD) in 2015. GWPSA engaged stakeholders from three countries to organise consultations during the months of February – April 2013. These are South Africa, Tanzania, and Mozambique.