On Wednesday 31 January 2018, the Via Water project was launched in Cotonou, Benin. The launch ceremony took place under the sponsorship of the Deputy Secretary General of the Minister of Water and Mines, in the presence of the actors of the consortium in charge of the said project, the representatives of public structures of the sub-sector, the Ministry of Health, the young water professionals of the Beninese Network of Youth of the World Water Parliament (RB/PMJE) and the economic operators of the water sector.
The Third Asia-Pacific Water Summit (APWS) will take place on 11-12 December in Yangon, Myanmar. The event is jointly organised by the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) under the overarching theme “water security for sustainable development”.
The Volta Basin Authority (VBA), Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP - WA) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) organized the regional training workshop on Integrated Flood Management (IFM), Preparation and Financing of IFM projects from 20th to 24th November 2017.
Prof. MAIGA has met with Mali Country Water Partnership (CWP) on October 12, 2017 and the discussions were focused on the necessity for CWP Mali to improve their management and comply with GWP partners’ policy.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Central and West Africa Programme held the steering committee meeting of its programme Partnership for environmental governance in West Africa (PAGE) on 16 February 2018 in Ouagadougou.
Professor Adrian Cashman is Senior Lecturer at the University of West Indies and a member of GWP’s Technical Committee. He speaks of the recent Technical Focus Paper “IWRM in Central America: the over-riding challenge of managing transboundary waters” – an issue he says is now emerging globally.
Water is a key component of ensuring climate action. A GWP delegation was in Bonn, Germany, to convey this message and raise the profile of water at the UN climate talks, COP23, which took place 6-17 November. Rapid implementation to the Paris Agreement is paramount to battle climate change. Water is integral to build climate resilience and is therefore a crucial component of implementing the Paris Agreement. And GWP is well positioned to help countries deliver on the adaptation components of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Nine Country Water Partnerships (CWP) are now accredited out of the thirteen in West Africa. At the end of September 2017, the Assembly of Partners of GWP West Africa recommended that Senegal and Ivory Coast CWPs make necessary steps to submit needed documents for their accreditation.