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Water governance remains a key challenge in the Mediterranean. Efforts of countries focus on improving policies making and action planning, institutional settings, law and regulation, enforcement mechanisms, innovative financing, application of cost recovery and polluter pays principle, etc. To achieve sustainable models of development, water must be mainstreamed into other sectoral policies such as agriculture, land planning and use, energy, industry, tourism and trade. Political will is key for making these happen. The importance of cross-cutting issues, such as gender, equity, poverty and rights, is increasingly recognized but is still relatively poorly tackled.

Freshwater is under acute pressure from climate change in North Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, COP20 delegates heard on Wednesday. Experts from countries as diverse as Tunisia and Belize urged visionary leadership from politicians to protect natural resources, reports CDKN’s Mairi Dupar from Lima, Peru. The experts from the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW), Global Water Partnership and CARICOM also called for water managers to build on their local innovations for climate resilience – and to get savvier about communicating solutions to policy-makers. The event was an opportunity to learn about common problems and possible solutions across Africa, Central America and the Caribbean, based on a South-South learning project supported by CDKN.

The UN-Water annual Zaragoza Conference serves as preparation for the annual World Water Day. GWP representatives participated in several of the sessions.

Water Integrity Capacity Building for the Middle East and North Africa region is a four year (2014-2017) regional programme implemented by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in collaboration with GWP-Med and other regional and local partners.

In Cyprus, our work is known as Mission Water - Non Conventional Water Resources Programme

In the Maltese islands the Proramme is known as Alter Aqua. Both Malta and Gozo have limited freshwater resources and depend heavily on desalination. The need to mobilise Non Conventional Water Resources (NCWR) to secure local water availability is evident.

In Greece the NCWR programme is know as Rainwater Harvesting (RWH). RWH aims at revitalising and reintroducing traditional rainwater harvesting combined with innovative techniques and methods in the Greek islands, as a tool to improve water availability and climate change adaptation at a local level.

With natural water supplies no longer meeting the growing demand in several countries throughout the region, non-conventional water resources, such as treated wastewater reuse and desalination, are increasingly becoming an additional contributor to water availability. Related environmental, energy, health and other impacts need to be carefully considered while defining the potentials and limitations of such options. Improving non-conventional options demands better planning and regulation; coordinated investment; monitoring of operations; building managerial capacity; and, where relevant, mitigating their negative impacts including along the coastline. Overall, where development of non-conventional options is necessary, it should be combined with water demand management actions. In relation and beyond these, a strong demand for integrated urban water management, including through blue-green approaches and practices, has emerged.

The regional workshop on the adoption of the inventory of the types of scientific / technical data to be retained in the Mékrou Project was held in Cotonou from 5 to 7 November 2014. It brought together about thirty participants from the three countries covered by the project (Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger) and partner organizations (GWP, JRC, NBA, etc.).