Deltas, where the river meets the sea, are dynamic and productive systems where people live and have built civilizations for millennia. Throughout the world they host dense populations and are important centers of food production, livelihoods and industry. These confluences of the sweet and the salty waters are of great ecological significance, featuring wetlands of high and unique biodiversity. Wise management of deltas is crucial for the integrity of ecosystems, economic well being and poverty alleviation.
The Maltese Islands have limited freshwater resources and depend heavily on desalination. Therefore there is an evident need to mobilise non conventional Water Resources (NCWR) in order to secure water availability and facilitate sustainable development.
The Chair of GWP WAf, Pr. Abel AFOUDA had a working visit at the Secretariat from October 19 to 24, 2015. During his stay on Ouagadougou, the Chair met with the staff to have an update on the implementation of various activities and give his orientations for finalizing pending issues.
He was presented the templates for the monitoring and drafting of the work plans, the draft progress reports of the CORE and the three projects bein implemented (WACDEP, IDMP and Mekrou), the guidelines for elaborating the budgets lines for 2016. On all these Prof. AFOUDA gave some orientations. The decision was also taken to convene the virtual meeting of the Steering Committee to appreciate the various documents and give orientations to the Secretariat. This meeting will be done early in November 2015.
Deltas, where the river meets the sea, are dynamic and productive systems where people live and have built civilizations for millennia. Throughout the world they host dense populations and are important centers of food production, livelihoods and industry. These confluences of the sweet and the salty waters are of great ecological significance, featuring wetlands of high and unique biodiversity. Wise management of deltas is crucial for the integrity of ecosystems, economic well being and poverty alleviation.
GWP China has established the formal partnership cooperation relationship with over 100 water-related institutions and organizations, including the government institutions, civil societies, research institutions and universities. By the end of 2016, we have set up four provincial and one river basin water partnerships, equal to country water partnerships of GWP network as GWP China is recognized as a regional partnership. They are: GWP China Fujian, GWP China Hebei, GWP China Shaanxi, GWP China Yellow River and GWP China Hunan. In 2023, we established two committees, "the Belt and Road Working Committee" and "the Marine Professional Committee." In March 2025, we set up "the Professional Committee on Water Rights and Water Markets of the Global Water Partnership China".
In April, GWP Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and GWP Hungary organised a workshop that brought Baltic Region Strategy experiences to the newly formed Danube Region Strategy. The workshop, Parallels: Water Resources Management Aspects of European Union Strategies for Baltic Sea and Danube Regions, held in April 2011, built on previous GWP work on strategy development and focused on new financing mechanisms for macro-regional economic development.
For the first time, GWP Central America signed an agreement with a regional development bank to advance IWRM as an essential approach for water security, climate change and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in the region.