Benefits of partnering with GWP:
- Opportunities to interact with other Partners;
- Help with identifying critical water issues;
- Opportunities to match one Partner's needs with another's resources;
- Opportunities to help to shape the IWRM approach at regional and national level;
- Mobilising a voice in regional and international fora for water resources management;
- Practical help; and
- Capacity building opportunities.
There are also a few obligations:
- Co-ordinate its relevant activities with those of other concerned organizations;
- Share information and experience freely with the other Partners;
- Give advice and professional contributions to the Network and to other Partners, on such conditions as may be agreed free of charge up to a reasonable level and at a mutually agreed charge above that level.
Different Partners appreciate different aspects of the partnership depending on their particular circumstances. Below, in their own words, GWP Partners speak about what the partnership means to them.
Opportunities to interact with other Partners
Viviana Salas of the Bioparques Civil Partnership, Venezuela, is pleased about the way the Partnership helps her to recognise potential allies through "being part of a global network that includes members from all sectors: public, private, academia, communities and NGOs".
Help with identifying critical water issues
The Hebei Provincial Hydraulic Engineering Society in China says it "learned valuable empirical experiences…more ideas about water management through the case studies in the GWP ToolBox and online communication. We have learned more about legal, administrative, economic and technical tools to manage water resources in an integrated way. In addition, we have realised the importance of letting the public participate in the management of water resources".
Another Partner in China, the Shaanxi Provincial River and Reservoir Administration, says "We let ourselves be guided by the new idea that diverse departments should be involved, the concerns of stakeholders should be heard, and opinions from all corners of society should be collected".
James Dalton, Water Management Adviser at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), says the benefits of Partnership include "first of all access to a wider network of policy makers and influencing organisations, especially regionally. Secondly…the identification of gaps in global approaches and policies for water management. This especially concerns ecosystems and the role they play in providing water, and acting as the sink for wastewater and other pollutants".
Opportunities to match one Partner's needs with another's resources
Riad Nurmohamed, researcher at Anton De Kom University in Suriname, values the rapid access the GWP Network gives him to the people he needs. "It's easy to get experts for specific problems like the capacity-building process in Suriname or review of research. Also it's easy to request funding to solve specific small-scale water-related needs, for example, training programmes and research."
Zalilah Selamat of the National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM) agrees. "GWP has established a wide range and far-reaching network in various water-related sectors. This helps NAHRIM in getting the right contacts...As a Partner of GWP, NAHRIM has also benefitted from its programmes, publications, dialogues and forums. Capacity building programmes are especially useful to NAHRIM in realising the capacities of its own human resources..."
Opportunities to help to shape the IWRM approach
For Pablo Enrique Quijivix and René Estuardo Barreno at Agua del Pueblo, Guatemala, partnership brings a welcome opportunity to develop the IWRM concept. They say "It is very valuable to have the possibility to sit with other institutions of different sorts such as governments, international cooperation agencies, enterprises, academia, the private sector…to discuss the theme of IWRM as a topic of national interest". And they appreciate "the information that GWP provides about experiences, research, debates and contradictions that at the global level are generated in the IWRM theme".
Access to information from around the globe
Professor MS Rathore, Director of the Centre for Environment and Development Study in the Indian state of Rajasthan finds that being a GWP Partner gives him "a platform to share our views on water resource management with the national and international community, and to help to highlight the problems of desert or arid and semi-arid areas and seek intellectual and other support for the region. Being a GWP Partner helps in building a global perspective…".
Practical help
Camille F Jepang Sandjong, in charge of the IUCN Regional Programme on Wetlands and Water, Western and Central Africa Programme, says "GWP's support contributed to the reflection on how to structure the Programme on Wetlands and Water and how to launch it. GWP is still participating in the deployment of the Programme in some water basins."
Training opportunities
Ana del Sagrario Hernández at Asdepromipo (Asociación para el Desarrollo y Protección de la Microcuenca) in El Salvador says "As Partners of GWP…we had the opportunity to participate in different training workshops and events related to IWRM, such as General Assemblies at the regional level, forums, and the Water Fair. GWP also helped us to present and promote the La Poza micro-basin through the elaboration of a ToolBox case study".
Mobilising a voice for women
Ana del Sagrario Hernández adds "We also value more the participation of women who play a key role in the supply of water for the family, as it is established in one of GWP's principles. In our process, which is supported significantly by GWP, women's empowerment, capacities and strength have been increased, as leaders in the local organisation and by participating in the execution and administration of different activities and projects".
Any organisation that agrees with the Dublin-Rio Principles can become a Partner of GWP. It is free and application forms are available here.