News and Activities

GWP Pakistan collaborated on a National Workshop on Pakistan’s Preparations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Islamabad on 12-13 September 2011. GWP Pakistan held a side event to promote IWRM and water saving/recycling and environmental conservation measures at ground level. The workshop was organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, UN One and the Rio+20 Secretariat.

A Seminar on the “Importance of Integrated Management in Mining Sand from the Riverbeds of Bangladesh” was conducted by SOUL (Save Our Urban Life) on August 24, 2011, with financial assistance from GWP Bangladesh.

Twenty-three Girl Guides participated in a residential programme in Colombo on August 5-6, 2011, to receive a “Training of Trainers” in Integrated Water Resources Management.

GWP Pakistan collaborated with WWF Pakistan in holding a Stakeholders Consultation in Islamabad on July 16, 2011, on Integrated River Basin Management for the Indus River and Water Stewardship Study.

The Pakistan Ministry of Environment accepted in May the first draft of the national climate policy and it is now ready to be forwarded to the federal cabinet for approval.

GWP India, through its Area Water Partnerships, is contributing to the improvement of water resources management.

Water quality is a major issue in Sri Lanka. Pollution and waste dumping contaminate water supplies, leading to serious health impacts for nearby water users. In one of the country’s most serious cases of water pollution, 300,000 people in Gampula were at risk when an epidemic of viral hepatitis broke out; several people died. But GWP Sri Lanka has achieved some results. (In photo: GWP Sri Lanka Chair Kusum Athukorala)

On Wednesday the 6th of April 2011 the Union Cabinet Ministers of India approved a comprehensive charter for the National Water Mission, one of the eight national missions which form the core of the National Action Plan for Climate Change.

The new State Water Policy of Rajasthan, the largest state in India by area, puts the emphasis on two components: an integrated water resources management approach and the efficient working of Water User Groups (WUG). During 2010, GWP India with the support of its Northern Zone Water Partner, organized two workshops for the capacity building of NGOs involved in the implementation of the new policy.

“Water Security and Climate Change ‒ Challenge for South Asian Women” was the topic of a meeting on February 2 organised by GWP Sri Lanka and its partner NetWater.