News and Activities

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.

Karachi, one of the world's largest cities with a population of more than 14 million, as with the rest of Pakistan, was severely hit by the floods last summer. The Karachi Water Partnership (KWP), whose founding in 2007 was inspired by the GWP model, has, through the Hisaar Foundation, raised significant funding to address the longer-term issues related to flooding and water management.

As part of its response to last year’s devastating floods in the country, GWP Pakistan organised on 12 January 2011 a one-day seminar on water security in the face of climate change, with the support of the government’s Planning Commission and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

In 2009 the Uva Provincial Council and National Water Supply and Drainage Board sought help from GWP Sri Lanka to set up a provincial water resources committee. This request was prompted by a new government policy recommending that provincial water resources committees should be set up to manage drinking water at river basin scale.

In November 2010, GWP Sri Lanka organised a Climate Change Adaptation National Dialogue, a joint activity with the Centre for Climate Change Studies of the Department of Meteorology, the Disaster Management Centre, and the Ministry of Disaster Management. The Dialogue was a follow up to two earlier activities undertaken with respect to the Southern and North Central Provinces of Sri Lanka.

While Pakistan endures one of the country’s most devastating floods—possibly its worst ever—GWP Pakistan is joining with others to help provide relief and rehabilitation to remote communities that have been particularly hard-hit. In addition, the GWP Partner Hisaar Foundation and the Karachi Water Partnership, has launched an appeal to raise Rs 10 million for immediate flood relief, largely for the provision of safe drinking water.

For the first time the Government of India has selected a non-government organisation, GWP India West Zone Water Partnership (WZWP) Coordinating Agency, Gomukh Trust, to prepare an integrated water resources development and management plan.