Monthly Report of the Global Water Partnership

August 2009

Table of contents From the Executive Secretary 1 GWP Regions 11 Caribbean 11 Central Africa 12 Central America 13 Central and Eastern Europe 15 Central Asia and Caucasus 16 China 17 Eastern Africa 18 Mediterranean 18 South America 18 South Asia 19 South East Asia 22 Southern Africa 26 West Africa 27

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Dr. Mohamed Ait Kadi

Executive Secretary summary, August 2009 Global Water Partnership Appoints New Technical Committee Chair The Global Water Partnership has appointed Dr. Mohamed Ait Kadi as the new GWP Technical Committee Chair, effective October 1, 2009. "I am proud to announce that the GWP Steering Committee completed its search and has made an outstanding choice," said Dr. Letitia A. Obeng, GWP Chair. "Mohamed is no stranger to GWP, having been a member of the GWP Technical Committee in the past, and we are happy to welcome him back." Dr. Ait Kadi is President of the General Council of Agricultural Development in Morocco. He is also Professor in the Department of Equipment and Hydraulics at the Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine Hassan II in Rabat, Morocco. “Dr. Mohamed Ait Kadi comes to us from one of the most water stressed regions of the world and knows firsthand the importance of sustainable water management for development. He shares our vision for a water secure world,” said Dr. Obeng. Read more: http://www.gwpforum.org/gwp/library/NewsRelease_GWP_TechnicalCommitteeChair.pdf GWP at World Climate Conference-3 Global Water Partnership Chair Dr Letitia A Obeng and Executive Secretary Dr Ania Grobicki participated at the World Climate Conference-3 in Geneva 31 August-4 September, Read more: http://www.iisd.ca/ymb/climate/wcc3/. Listen to live recordings here: http://www.wmo.int/wcc3/sessionsdb/documents/WCC3_PS1_Challenge2.mp3 Letitia Obeng made an important speech to the plenary session on the opening day of the conference. Focusing on “partnerships for adaptation”, she emphasized that as various sectors consider their adaptation strategies, they need to work together. It is particularly important to ensure that countries build on existing water management plans, to avoid all the different economic sectors fighting for funds. “Fragmentation is not development. The developing world cannot afford to go down this road,” she said. This point resonated with many of the delegations and individuals participating in the conference. 166 countries were represented. Dr Obeng’s presentation can be downloaded here: http://www.gwpforum.org/servlet/PSP?iNodeID=215&itemId=897 The goal of the conference was to reach agreement among countries to support the establishment of a Global Framework for Climate Services. Over the coming months, a high-level taskforce will work on the details of this global framework, which aims to provide detailed climate information to users and potential users of such information from various economic sectors. GWP´s role will be to facilitate in articulating users´ needs with regard to climate information, conveying these to the climate scientists in the most effective way, and assisting in ensuring that this information reaches those who need it. Since the whole hydrological cycle is being affected by climate change, this work will become ever more crucial in the future.

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“We are going forward together” ― Global Water Partnership Consulting Partners meeting 15-16 August 2009 The annual Global Water Partnership Consulting Partners meeting took place in Stockholm 15-16 August 2009. With a network of more than 2000 partners spanning over 70 countries, a consultative approach in which Partners recommend actions to be taken is essential to the work of GWP.

Gathering around 150 partners and GWP staff from 56 countries, the theme of the meeting was “Implementing the GWP Strategy 2009-2013” with the main purpose to adopt and monitor the strategic direction of the Network as well as to receive and comment on the annual activity and financial reports.

Strategic goals 1, 2 and 3; climate change; the GWP technical function; regional experiences and projects; how to mainstream IWRM into national development planning; transboundary water issues; water and economics; water laws and research to support GWP key messages; fundraising and strategic allies were topics discussed and generated a lively debate among active partners and GWP representatives. The participants worked in plenary sessions as well as in smaller workshop groups. Presenters and panellists included the GWP Technical Committee member Mike Muller,

senior advisor Khalid Mohtadullah, regional coordinators Simon Thuo and Vadim Sokolov, Programme Officer Alex Simalabwi, and representatives from Cap-Net, SIWI, GEF, WMO and IWMI.

GWP Chair Dr. Letitia A Obeng opened the meeting saying that “ In order to reach out, we have to engage with people who are not water people and engage with those who work and rely on water!” “The dynamic partnerships and the

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GWP network of partners is what makes GWP unique, Dr Obeng said. “We need to cooperate to fulfil our union and vision for a water secure world in which there is availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods, ecosystems and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks to people, environments and economics.”. Dr Obeng also mentioned climate change as one key area for GWP to work with: “We have to build resilience through water security, and building water security is about building our future together”, Letitia A Obeng said. “Better water management is key to climate change adaptation, we will learn how to live with climate change.” The values of GWP were prominent at the meeting: We are a multistakeholder organisation that works on all levels. We are objective and impartial, we are supporting dialogue across different sectors an various interest groups. We provide a neural platform for dialogue and supportive action. We strive for inclusiveness, openness, transparency, accountability respect, gender sensitivity and solidarity. We are about serving people, contributing to poverty reduction, and we are about technical excellence. We provide knowledge and help build capacity to improve water management at all levels: global, transboundary, regional, national and local. We have the flexibility to work at all levels, global, regional, country, local. We work to find the best solution for a particular situation. We generate, provide and disseminate knowledge.

GWP is celebrating its 13th year of existence. It is still growing and needs to evolve in order to embrace the new challenges we face. We have to better focus on our target groups, youth is the leaders of tomorrow, parliamentarians, target the right decision-makers.

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Knowledge management and communication are key to fulfilling the mission of GWP who also needs to develop further cooperation with strategic allies in order to deliver. Fundraising is furthermore one important ingredient to success. The full agenda and list of participants is available here: http://www.gwpforum.org/gwp/library/CP_Meeting09_Intro_Agenda.pdf

GWP Executive Secretary Dr Ania Grobicki (see picture to left) said that the “accountability and transparency that GWP stands for has created a basis of trust”. GWP has a strong team that is working to deliver in this current strategy period “our reputation is our capital!”. GWP must continue being close to the development agenda, and even part of developing it. Dr Grobicki concluded by saying that she is looking forward to cooperate in the coming period “We are going forward together! We are moving

into a period of stress related to climate change, and now more than ever, we need to continue showing engagement, linking with partners and stakeholders and acting with integrity.” For the first time in GWP’s history, the Consulting Partners meeting was broadcast using live streaming online. All recordings are available here: http://consultingpartners.gwpforum.org/ Presentations and supporting documents are available here: xxx. A report of the meeting will be available on www.gwpforum.org in October.

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Regional Chairs and Coordinators and Communication Officers meeting The GWP regional chairs, coordinators, communication officers and the secretariat met the day before the Consulting Partners meeting on 14 August 2009. The following was discussed in the light of implementing the GWP Strategy: outcome reporting, work plans and budgets, fundraising in the network, strategic messages, inter-regional knowledge-sharing, host institutions, technical function and regional communications strategies.

World Water Week participation

The Global Water Partnership network was the convenor or co-convenor of several World Water Week 2009 sessions and side events. The network's participation had a broad geographical and thematic spread and is linked to the implementation of GWP's strategy. GWP’s strategic contribution to the global dialogue on water builds on three core strengths: its global technical leadership in the area of water resources management, its convening power as a neutral, multi-stakeholder platform at all levels, and its far-

reaching international network of more than 2,000 Partners in 149 countries. The contribution was:

The Role of Inter-basin Transfers in Accessing Water Water and Climate: IWRM as a Practical Approach to Climate Change Adaptation A New Vision for IWRM? Lessons from Practical Experience* Beyond African Declarations and Commitments: Perspectives for the Future and What is

Required Partnerships for Water and Environmental Sanitation: Integrity, Accountability and

Transparency Country Assistance for Robust Flood Management

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Policies: The HelpDesk for Integrated Flood Management and in the Asia Day Read more: http://www.gwpforum.org/gwp/library/GWP_participation_WWW2009.pdf GWP also participated in a brainstorming workshop organised by OECD about Financing Water Resources. It was decided at the workshop that GWP and OECD will cooperate more regarding financing where regional input on guidelines can be one significant part. Global Water Partnership and European Water Partnership Sign Memorandum of Understanding

At the end of the Global Water Partnership's Consulting Partners meeting and the start of the Stockholm World Water Week, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the GWP and the European Water Partnership (EWP). Read more: http://www.gwpforum.org/gwp/library/GWP_EWP_MoU_Announcement.pdf The MoU was signed by Dr. Ania Grobicki, GWP Executive Secretary, and Mr Tom Vereijken, EWP Chair (see photo) on August 16, 2009.

Preparations for participation at COP 15 Putting water higher up on the Climate Change agenda, the Global Water Partnership is preparing to be one of the organisations outside the UN system that will participate in COP15 meeting in Copenhagen . Water is the primary medium through which climate change will impact people, ecosystems and economies. Water resources management must be an early focus for adaptation. It is essential to recognize that investments in water security are investments in adaptation. More information will follow in the next Newsletter.

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GWP Technical Committee Supporting Regional Partnerships

GWP Technical Committee members Yang Xiaoliu and Hartmut Bruehl attended the Reference Group meeting in Swaziland within the PAWD Project, Mike Muller attended the respective meeting in Eritrea. In both cases important lessons could be drawn from the processes for implementing IWRM and water efficiency strategies, lessons for the countries and for GWP as a whole. It was decided to make these lessons available to GWP once all Reference Group activities be finalised.

Members of the GWP Technical Committee were active in all major workshops of the Regional Chairs and Coordinators Meeting in Stockholm on 14 August. Members of the Technical Committee were also active and contributed to all the workshops the Consulting Partners Meeting in Stockholm on 15 and 16 August. The Panel “Working with Strategic Allies” was chaired by Hartmut Bruehl, GWP Technical Committee’s transitional chair. Technical Committee Meeting The Technical Committee meeting on 11 to 13 August was preceded on 10 August by meetings of Technical Committee working groups on the ToolBox, Climate Change, Urban Water Management, Indicators and Transboundary Waters. Major topics that were discussed included: The cooperation of TEC with the Regional and Countries Water Partnerships, including the aspect of GWP’s technical functions to be reinforced and reorganised throughout the network. In this context it is important to mention that for the first time members of regional technical bodies were invited to attend the TEC meeting. Adaptation to Climate Change – resulting in the Technical Commitee Background Paper 14 and the Policy Brief 10. It was also decided TEC to be active in the processes and discussions leading to the COP15 Conference in December Making used water a resource – resulting in Policy Brief No 10 that is based on Technical Committee’s Background Paper 13 Lessons learned from applying IWRM principles implicitly and explicitly in the past – resulting in Policy Brief No 9 that is based on the Technical Committee’s book “IWRM in Practice”. This topic has also been dealt with in a very successful side event of the World Water Week under the title: “A New Vision for IWRM? Lessons from Practical Experience”

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The issue of indicators for and monitoring and evaluation of IWRM processes that partly been treated in cooperation with UN Water and the UN World Water Assessment Programme The issue of food security as a major part of water security that is a goal in GWP’s strategy 2009-2013. TEC has formed a new working group that will follow up the topic. The aspect of equity, although one of IRWM’s 3 Es is felt need a more focussed approach. Whereas there are TEC (TAC) Background Papers on economic efficiency and on environmental sustainability there is none on equity. A new working group will work on this issue. Overexploitation of groundwater will be getting increasing attention in the near future in many parts of the world and the Technical Committee will assess whether and to which extend it will include this issue in its agenda. Technical Committee at the Stockholm World Water Week Technical Committee members participated in the World Water Week, serving as chairs/speakers/panellists at many sessions, workshops and events, such as

Side event convened by GWP “A New Vision for IWRM? Lessons from Practical Experience” Side event co-convened by GWP “Beyond African Declarations and Commitments:

Perspectives for the Future and What is Required Session co-convened by GWP: “Eye on Asia” Workshop “Benefit Sharing and Transboundary Waters” Seminar “Cooperation as Conflict? Towards effective Transboundary Water Interaction” Seminar “Focus: Water and Climate” Seminar “Towards a Ecosystem Approach to Transboundary Basins: Status and Prospects” Working Meeting on IWRM and HRBA (Human Rights Based Approach, co-convened by

UNDP, GWP-Tec and the UNESCO Centre on Water Rights and Policy. Side event co-convened by GWP “Responsibilities of River Basin District Authorities and

Financing: Recommendations from the GWP/INBO Handbook on IWRM in Basins” New resources Policy Brief 9 Lessons from Integrated Water Resources Management in Practice: http://www.gwpforum.org/servlet/PSP?iNodeID=215&itemId=898 Policy Brief 10 Managing the other side of the water cycle: Making wastewater an asset: http://www.gwpforum.org/servlet/PSP?iNodeID=215&itemId=899 TEC Background Paper No. 14 Water Management, Water Security and Climate Change Adaptation: Early Impacts and Essential Responses: http://www.gwpforum.org/servlet/PSP?iNodeID=215&itemId=889 Conferences South Asia Water Forum 9-13 September, Kathmandu, Nepal

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12th International Riversymposium 21-24 September 2009, Brisbane, Australia www.riversymposium.com The Water Framework Directive: Emerging Water Management Challenges 29th and 30th September 2009, World Trade Centre, Lille, France www.ciwem.org 4th Southeast Asia Water Forum / ADB 29 September – 2 October 2009 Seminar on transboundary integration in South America GWP South America, Brazil Regional Steering Committee Meeting 23-24 September, Costa Rica GWP Central America (5th) High Level Session (HLS) for Ministers of Water GWP-Caribbean and Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) 4th – 5th, 2009 in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands IWRM ToolBox Integrated Flood Management. The ToolBox website now includes comprehensive database of knowledge documents on Integrated Flood Management. This activity was conducted together with Associate programme of Flood Management. The HelpDesk for Integrated Flood Management represents a novelty in engaging directly with the country and river basin levels of water resources management in providing guidance on flood management policy, strategy, and institutional development related to flood issues. A bulk of important guidance papers, manuals and training manuals are now available for GWP family: http://www.gwptoolbox.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26&Itemid=25 How is the ToolBox used? A review of experiences in using the ToolBox has started. The first two contributions from West and Eastern Africa and Lesotho are now available at the ToolBox web site: http://www.gwptoolbox.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=4 Case studies of the month Read more about transboundary issues in these two case studies: Transboundary: Establishing a transboundary organisation for IWRM in the Senegal River basin (#45) http://www.gwptoolbox.org/index.php?option=com_case&id=30 Transboundary: A need for a cohesive international work in the region – Joint Danube Survey (# 306) http://www.gwptoolbox.org/index.php?option=com_case&id=193

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New material on the ToolBox is listed here: http://www.gwptoolbox.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=5&Itemid=59

Website Visitors August 2009

www.gwpforum.org www.gwptoolbox.org

Daily avg visits Monthly totals Daily avg visits Monthly totals

1,912 59,296 366 11,362

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GWP REGIONS CARIBBEAN

Activities GWP-Caribbean is currently undertaking the development of two (2) Toolbox case studies as

it seeks to establish a knowledge bank in the region where partner countries can share their experiences. Essentially, it also wants to use this resource to submit cases to the regional toolbox of the Global Water Partnership Organisation (GWPO). The two (2) case studies GWP-Caribbean intends to produce are:

I. The development of a Toolbox case study on the Integrated Water Resources

Management (IWRM) planning process in the Bahamas. II. The development of a Toolbox case study on Water Utility Reform in

Jamaica.

GWP-Caribbean has received letters of interest and proposals from experts in water resources management about the development of the case studies. As such, work on the case studies will begin as soon as recruitment of consultants is finalised.

Activities of Partners

The first (1st) Suriname Water Resources Information System (SWRIS) Water Dialogue, took place in Paramaribo, Suriname on August 27th, 2009. The one day information workshop which included the main project partners, marked the launch of the SWRIS project. The SWRIS Project Coordinator, Dr. Riad Nurmohamed is a GWP-Caribbean Steering Committee Member and partner. Dr. Nurmohamed outlined at the meeting that GWP-Caribbean will be one of the project’s supporting partners.

Some of the participants at the workshop included representatives from:

The Anton de Kom University of Suriname (AdeKUS) The Meteorological Service Suriname (MDS) The Hydraulic Research Division Suriname (WLA) The Natural and Environmental Assessment Department (NARENA) The World Wide Fund For Nature-Suriname (WWF-Suriname) The Dutch Embassy

Various brochures and leaflets were distributed among participants which included leaflets on GWP-Caribbean and one of its partners, Caribbean WaterNet. At the meeting, partners were asked to give opinions on their vision of SWRIS, the contributions of their organisation to SWRIS and recommendations on activities in the framework of SWRIS.

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The first (1st) Suriname Water Resources Information System (SWRIS) – Water Dialogue in Paramaribo, Suriname. Date: August 27th, 2009.

Coming Events GWP-Caribbean in conjunction with the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association

(CWWA) will be hosting their fifth (5th) High Level Session (HLS) for Ministers of Water on October 4th – 5th, 2009 in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. The theme of the HLS is “Building a Water Secured Region: A Caribbean Response” and the main goal of the meeting is to build on efforts from the previous High Level Sessions with the aim of developing and adopting strategies and plans that will ensure that the Caribbean is a water secured region.

GWP Chair, Dr. Letitia A. Obeng will be attending the HLS and is scheduled to give the keynote address at the meeting.

CENTRAL AFRICA

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CENTRAL AMERICA Consulting Partners Meeting Members from the staff of GWP Central America and representatives from the Country Water Partnerships of Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala, including the Regional Chair of the RWP, Mr. Tomás Fernández, participated in the different meetings organized by GWPO, being the most important the Consulting Partners Meeting. Elisa Colom, who represented the region in the TEC meeting, also had a presentation in one of the working groups of the CP, as well as Fabiola Tabora, regional coordinator of GWP Central America, who had a presentation as part of the fundraising panel. The general participation of GWP CAM was notorious thanks to the simultaneous translation provided during the CP. This facilitated the communication of the Spanish speaking people that had the possibility to speak in their native language expressing their opinions, thoughts and ideas, becoming a change in the involvement and participation of the members from Central America in this type of meeting. Regional Meeting for the validation and dissemination of the regional instruments por IWRM in Central America and Dominican Republic From the 24th to the 26th of August, representatives of GWP Central America participated in a regional workshop held in Guatemala and organized by the Central American Integration System (SICA, by the Spanish acronym), with the collaboration of AECID. The goal was to validate and discuss the Regional Strategy for IWRM (ECAGIRH) and other instruments. Maureen Ballestero, chair of GWP Costa Rica, Elvis Enrique Rodríguez, representative from GWP Panama, from the organization Panama Verde, and Fabiola Tabora, regional coordinator of GWP CAM, participated in this meeting. The comments of the participants will be incorporated to the document that will be approved during the following months by the Environmental Ministries of the region. Mrs. Tabora is also part of the ad-hoc group in charge of the elaboration of the document. GWP Honduras The Country Water Partnership of Honduras recognizing the importance of communicating and sharing information with others, is at the moment working in the elaboration of one electronic bulletin that will be published every two months.

Some of the members and staff from GWP Central and South America participating in the Consulting Partners Meeting

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The main goal for GWP Honduras behind the creation of this communications tool is to inform about the activities of the CWP and RWP, and to accomplish more participation of the members to the network; also, to promote the visibility of the member organizations and their actions. The idea is impelled by the Steering Committee of GWP Honduras, demonstrating with this action a modification in the way communications are perceive by them, and giving value to the communications subject in order to strengthen the work and functions of the Network. The media informs about GWP As a result of the continuous work with the Water Resources Journalists Network, different articles related to the actions impelled by GWP Central America were published in newspapers of Nicaragua, Guatemala and Panama. The articles are a result of the press releases and conclusions sent during and after the Water and Financing Workshop held in Antigua, Guatemala, from the 21st to the 23rd of July, 2009. These were published during August 10, in El Nuevo Diario, Nicaragua; on August 12, in El Diario de Centro América, from Guatemala, and the 27th of July, in the Environmental Newspaper Genesis, from Panama. Also, a note about the ToolBox was published in the INFOWETLAND, the bulletin of the Ramsar Regional Center for Training and Research on Wetlands in the Western Hemisphere (CREHO), a non-profit international organization that promotes management and wise use of wetlands in the Americas. This bulletin is distributed to the list of forums of the CECoP program, to all the RAMSAR focal points in the Americas and to all the participants of CREHO workshops and training courses. All this publications are an outcome of the work with journalists and communications officers or public relations staff from organizations like CREHO, that are part of the Water Resources Journalists Network. Please follow the links to read every single article published:

Guatemala: Article’s title: Urgen acciones para sanear y garantizar el agua (Actions are urgent to manage wastewater and guarantee water quality). Diario de Centro America. Published on August 12. http://www.gwpcentroamerica.org/uploaded/content/article/1499205602.pdf

Nicaragua: Article’s title: Criterios políticos afectan gestión del agua (Political criteria affects the management of water) El Nuevo Diario. Published on August 10. http://www.gwpcentroamerica.org/uploaded/content/article/1961853944.pdf

Panama: Article’s title: Taller Centroamericano en Agua y Finanzas (Central American Worskshop on Water and Finance). Not available on line.

INFOWETLAND: ToolBox, the on-line library about Integrated Water Resources Management http://www.creho.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=95<&lang=en

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Future events VII Central American Legislators Conference on Water Resources In San Jose, Costa Rica will be held on August 24 and 25 the VII Central American Legislators Conference on Water Resources. Congressmen and legal advisors from the different countries will be invited to participate in the event. XV Meeting of the Steering Committee of GWP Central America The XV Meeting of the Steering Committee of GWP will be held in San Salvador, El Salvador, during October 16 and 17, in order to discuss themes as the work plan and budget for 2010. First Central American Fair of Community Water Management In San Jose, Costa Rica, from March 19 to the 24 of 2010, under the frame of the World Water Day, different organizations, including GWP Central America, will hold the First Central American Fair of Community Water Management. CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE Regional Coordinator, Milan Matuska participated in EcoSanRes policy and regulatory frameworks meeting in Stockholm on 23-25 August. The EcoSanRes (Ecological Sanitation Research) Programme aims to develop and promote sustainable sanitation in the developing world through capacity development and knowledge management as a contribution to equity, health, poverty alleviation, and improved environmental quality. He presented GWP CEE activities related to sustainable sanitation in the region as offer for knowledge exchange among the countries where eco sanitation is on the agenda at all governing levels – regional, national and local. He participated together with Bjorn Guterstam (GWP Network Officer for China, CACENA and CEE regions) in working groups discussions in helping selected regions/countries to find practical answers to their essential questions related to implementation of eco sanitation approaches. Both of them contributed to that with concrete proposals stemming from experience gained in relevant regions, especially from China and CEE region. As a result of the meeting is starting unofficial cooperation between experts group from India represented by Sunder Subramanian and GWP CEE which asked for the first relevant information by e-mail already submitted to GWP CEE Secretariat. Regional Chair, Liviu Nicolae Popescu, Regional Coordinator and Communication Officer, Richard Müller participated in a joint regional meeting on 14 August in Stockholm. They contributed to the discussion with experiences on outcome reporting, inter-regional exchange of knowledge, e.g. sustainable sanitation, creation and enforcement of new water legislation, fund-raising, etc. Communication Officer took part in Communication Meeting on the previous day. GWP CEE Consulting Partners from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Poland and Ukraine participated at GWP Consulting Partners meeting on 15-16 August. CPs from Romania were represented by Gheorghe Constantin, Romanian Water Director to the Board of EU Water Directors and General Director at Ministry of Environment. He presented experiences from transboundary waters management in the Danube basin. Participation of the public in such complex processes was

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presented in one of working group by GWP CEE Regional Coordinator, in which GWP CEE has played roles on the national and basin level since 2003, were echoed by the participants.

GWP and EWP sign MoU. Credit: L. N. Popescu CPmeeting participants. Credit: L. N. Popescu A Memorandum of Understanding between GWP and European Water Partnership was signed at the end of Consulting Partners meeting. For GWP CEE, it has a special importance since its institutionalised cooperation with organisation we have been working for past several years. One of the examples is cooperation on European Regional Document preparation for Istanbul World Water Forum. In the future, both sides will identify activities/projects of common interest that could be implemented according to Memorandum of Understanding. GWP-Ukraine together with the State Institute for Economics and Management of Water Resources developed and conducted the training course on river basin management planning in accordance with EU Water Framework Directive requirements. The first training was attended by the representatives of River Basin Organizations, as well as NGO and academic representatives. Training took place at the facilities of State Institute for Economics and Management of Water Resources in Kiev on 23 June. There are plans to extend training to all river basins in Ukraine which is however, subject to funds availability. Movie Water for Future produced by GWP Lithuania, was uploaded into Water Channel. It touches upon a wide variety of topics related to water. The movie starts with a description of the history of our planet focusing on the important role of water. It describes the function of water within human bodies, but also explains the hydrological circle. Natural disasters like floods and droughts are briefly discussed before going into daily consumption in Lithuania and its distribution to household level. After learning about pollution of the Baltic Sea the movie describes pollution of groundwater which is much less visible. See the movie on the following link: http://www.thewaterchannel.tv/index.php?option=com_hwdvideoshare&task=viewvideo&Itemid=53&video_id=348 GWP Romania is in the process of translation three GWP publications - Handbook for Integrated Water Resources Management in Basins, GWP Strategy for 2009-2013 and Managing the Other Side of the Water Cycle: Making Wastewater an Asset into National Language. After review, they will be published and disseminated. GWP Romania continued dissemination of Children Encyclopedia, produced in partnership by GWP Romania, Ministry of Environment and National Water Administration in June.

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Before start of a new school year, GWP Slovenija distributed publication prepared for Danube Day celebration to 635 primary schools in Slovenia, all relevant ministries and institutes. It was well received by the school teachers. Children Encyclopedia, Volume 2.Credit: GWP Romania CENTRAL ASIA AND CAUCASUS CHINA 1. International Advanced Training Workshop on International River Basin Management

The International Research and Training

Center on Erosion and Sedimentation

(IRTCES) is one of partners of GWP China.

On behalf of the Ministry of Water Resources

and the UNESCO, the Center organized the

International Advanced Training Workshop

on International River Basin Management

lasting from July 28 to August 3, 2009. There

were 51 trainees from 18 countries, covering

Asian, European Oceania and African continents, who participated in the training course.

Dr. Jiang Yunzhong, Communication officer of GWP China was invited to deliver a lecture about

South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China to the international trainees on August 1, 2009. His

presentation lasted three hours with elaborate background and general information of this grand

project. In addition, he also presented ideas, policies and practices of IWRM to the trainees and

discussed with them for one hour after his presentation.

2. 2009 CP Meeting and the 19th Stockholm World Water Week

On behalf of GWP China, Mr. Zheng Rugang, Executive Secretary of GWP China; Ms. Ma Yilin,

Programme Officer of GWP China and Dr. Yin Junxian, Senior Engineer of China Institute of Water

Resources and Hydropower Research attended CP Meeting and World Water Week in Stockholm,

Sweden from August 15 to 21, 2009.

Amid the 2009 CP Meeting, the China Delegation actively participated in all activities, discussions

and delivered constructive suggestions. Based upon productive communication, GWP China and

GWPO shared common agreement on the work plan of 2010 and also developed more cooperation

intention with other organizations and agencies. On the invitation of the SIWI, the host of World

Water Week, Dr. Yin Junxian delivered a keynote speech ”the Middle Route of the South-to-North

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Water Division Project and Related Function of GWP China” on the Workshop on the Role of Inter-

basin Transfers in Accessing Water. After the workshop, the GWP China Delegation interviewed with

People’s Daily Online and the report was published on the website of People’s Daily.

3、International Conference of World Ecoculture and Environment Education

The International Conference of World Ecoculture and Environment Education was jointly held by

the Institute of World Literature and the Center and Cross-Cultural Studies of Peking University,

GWP China, Global Citizens of Sustainable Development of India and Gutenburg University Mainz

of Germany from August 14 to 20, 2009. The Conference was taken place in Peking University and

kindly supported by the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for Human Progress of Switzerland and

Beijing Eco Group.

The conference convened more than 100 participants from five continents from the world. The

topics ranged from literature, art, law, ecology, science to hydrology. The conference, particularly,

attracted young pioneers who are developing new research fields related to Eco-culture and

Environmental Education. The significant outcome of this conference is the World Ecoculture

Organization which was set up by Chinese experts and joined with all professionals from five

continents of the world.

As one of organizers, GWP China recommended Professor. Gao Zhanyi, Director of Department

of Irrigation and Drainage of China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research as well as

Vice President of International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage to deliver presentation

“Coping with Population Growth, Climate Change, Water Scarcity and Growing Food Demand in the

21th Century”. Amid the conference, GWP China gathered delegates to visit the views of China

South-to-North Water Division Project.

EASTERN AFRICA MEDITERRANEAN SOUTH AMERICA Member of GWP as a reference in water issues

26th August - African Chancellor seeks cooperation in water resource issue with the National Water Agency of Brazil, a member of GWP. In search of a future cooperation in the water resources area, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Burundi, Augustin Nsanze,

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visited the Chairman of the National Water Agency (ANA) of Brazil, Jose Machado, marking the first time an African country's foreign minister visits this country. Nsanze already represented his country at the African Union and the United Nations (UN). Burundi. Located in Central Africa, the region of the African Great Lakes, Burundi has no sea coast. The Nile River is born in its territory, from melting mountain ice Heha. The economy is based on agriculture, mainly in coffee exports. The burundinens have one of the lowest incomes per capita of the planet.

Recent activities of GWP Peru

• Support for National Water Authority As a member of the Board and former president GWP Peru, and as Academic Director of CIGA-PUCP, Dr. Nicole Bernex endorsed the National Water Authority (ANA) of Peru in the formation of all Local Water Authorities, in Chiclayo 5, 6 and 7 August; in Lima on 13 and Arequipa on November 20th.

• The issue of water in the XIII Latin American Film Festival On Friday 14 August, under the XIII Latin American Film Festival, Dr. Nicole Bernex, a member of the Board of Peruvian Water Forum, participated in "Water and Film", organized by ‘Clima de Cambio’ productions. They were also invited Cristian Calónico, Mexican director and jury member of the Cinema in the World Water Forum in Istanbul and Ricardo Bedoya, renowned film critic Peru. The 120 participants showed great interest in integrated water resource management - IWRM. • Two meetings and courses around IWRM Also in the framework of a Specialized Association for Sustainable Development agreement - AEDES-PUCP, Nicole Bernex facilitated the meeting of 25 Mayors in Ocoña Basin around IWRM and the First Meeting of Artisanal Miners Ocoña Basin to the sustainability of the Basin. She also participated in two workshops organized by CapNet (Cusco and Cajamarca) for training in Water, Sanitation and Integrated Water Resources Management - IWRM and development agency of the Book "Methodological Contributions to the development of plans for Integrated Watershed Management".

SOUTH ASIA GWP Bangladesh =>Ambassador Mr. Muhammad Zamir, Vice President, BWP and Ms. Reba Paul, Executive Secretary, BWP participated in the Consulting Partners (CP) Meeting from 15-16 Aug, 2009 and World Water Week from 16-22 Aug, 2009 at Stockholm, Sweden . Mr. Muhammad Zamir chaired session on Fund Raising in the CP meeting on 16th. Ms. Reba Paul was Rapporteur for Goal One "Promote water as a key part of sustainable national development' of GWP Strategy 2009-2013 and presented the outcomes of the session. She also presented a paper on on ' Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia' in the session on ' IWRM as practical tool for climate change adaptation'. This session was chaired by

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Ms. Ania Grobicki, Executive Secretary, GWP. =>BWP facilitated participation of a six-member Ministerial delegation ( Mr. Ramesh Chandra Sen, Minister for Water Resources, Mr. Mir Sajjad Hossain, Member, Joint Rivers Commission, Mr. Rafiqul Islam, PS to Minister for Water Resources, Dr. Hasan Mahmud, State Miniter for Environment and Forest, Mr. Jainal Abedin Talukder, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Dr. Arup Ratan Chowdhury, PS to Minister for Environment and Forest) from Bangladesh in the World Water Week at Stockholm and ensured full financial support for two Ministers and partial support to other four delegates. Mr. Ramesh Chandra Sen, Hon'ble Minister for Water Resources participated in the High Level Expert Panel on Transboundary Water as one of the Panelists on 17th, 2009 where Hon'ble Minister raised the transboundary water issues in Bangladesh and seek for regional cooperation to solve the problems. This high level expert panel was moderated by Ms. Leticia Obeng, Chairman, Global Water Partnership. Dr. Hasan Mamud, Ho'ble State Minister for Environment and Forest participated in the High Level Expert Panel on Climate Change where he explained the climate vulnerable country Bangladesh and how water and environment of Bangladesh would be worsely affected from climate change. He streesed that climate change should also address forest along with land and water for adaptation which was incorporated in the final statement of Stockholm to copenhagen. GWP Bhutan Report on – Monitoring visit to Rain Water Harvest project (18 to 21 August 2009) Both the project sites at Dongkala and Phudu Gonpa have shown good progress. All the materials required have been transported despite the difficulties of long distance and unavailability of transport means. Engineers from the district headquarter have visited twice to find out the specifications of the materials and to describe the type of ground that needs to be done. Labourers are now constructing platform for the water tanks and drains for clearing water. To avoid future landslides likely to be caused by the used water, the drains were marked for a longer distance and ultimately end in a pit to help the water to sink underground. The project is expected to complete by end of November 2009. GWP India Draft report on Low Cost Water Saving Technologies Activity: Zonal water partners have been asked to expedite draft reports. Couple of them has sent it; reports from others are awaited. Outcome: Partial analysis of data and write-up on inputs received from different zones is being done. Part of it is complete. Capacity Building exercise on the analysis of Water Saving Technologies and linking it with IWRM Activity: A formal meeting of all zonal partners was postponed. The partners in each have been asked to get in touch with the lead partner to understand the nature of work being done by them. Outcome: Meeting/ contacts within each zone have led to saving of time and resources. It is a partial success story as frequent contacts of partners across zones could be more effective for communication. Feedback from partners for Round Table Conference scheduled for Novermber 2009

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Activity: Each lead zonal partner is expected to prepare a brief note/ paper to share their hypothesis and experience with others and have been asked to orient it for RTC. Outcome: Since the data and experience from different zones are too diverse, the efforts made so far are a partial success in terms of offering a generalized version on the theme of ‘Low Cost Water Saving Technologies’ and its linkage with the adaptation to Climate Change. GWP Nepal 1. Recently the Government of Nepal splited the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) into two parts - Ministry of Irrigation and Ministry of Energy. Nepal Water Partnership//JVS organized an interaction program on 5th July 2009, in Kathmandu to discuss this new step of the Government. As politicians only seem to understand its use aspects (energy, irrigation), the interaction emphasized on the resource value of water and its need for integrated management for sustainable use. While the whole world is gradually switching towards a holistic approach the government's decision for disintegrating the management has been taken by the experts as unwarranted move. The program was participated by individual and institutional partners, water professionals, media, and government officials etc. During the interaction Mr. Iswer R. Onta, Chair, Nepal Water Partnership/JVS formed a six member task force to prepare the report. The task force completed its report and strongly recommended to review the decision. The report and a protest letter was handed over to the Rt. Honorable Prime Minister Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal by Nepal Water Partnership/JVS Executive Committee Members led by Mr. Iswer R. Onta on 21st July 2009. 2. The 99th Executive Committee Meeting of Nepal Water Partnership/JVS was held on 25th August 2009 in Anamnagar, Kathamdnu under the chairmanship of Mr. Iswer R. Onta, Chair, Nepal Water Partnership/JVS. The meeting discussed the proposed agenda of the upcoming 15th Global Water Partnership – South Asia Regional Council Meeting and Round Table Conference (RTC) to be held in New Delhi, India on 2-5 November 2009 and participation of Nepal Water Partnership/JVS in the said meeting. 3. The second edition of Global Water Partnership TEC background paper No. 4 on Integrated Water Resource Management in Nepali language is ready to be published by Nepal Water Partnership/JVS and will come out from the press by the end of September 2009. 4. Nepal Water Partnership/JVS is in the process of implementing Local Water Parliament (LWP) in 4 Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Ilam district, eastern development region of Nepal. In this regard, Nepal Water Partnership/JVS is helping the local community to develop Water Resources Master Plan in each VDC under the Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) concept and Nepal Water Plan. Dr. Vijaya Shrestha from Nepal Water Partnership/JVS, LWP Resource Person, Mr. Nawaraj Basnet and the staff member form Nepal Water Partnership/JVS is visiting Ilam district on 10– 17 September 2009 to: • Organize stakeholders' consultation meeting regarding the LWP and its structure, • Nominate of LWP members and • Draft the Constitution.

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GWP Pakistan

1) Sardar Muhammad Tariq, Chairman PWP attended GWP Consulting Partners Meeting at Stockholm, Sweden on 15-16 August and chaired Workshop: Goal Two- Address critical development challenges on Day One. In this Workshop Session, the thematic presentations were on Climate change and food security –South Asia; Climate change and tourism – Caribbean; Transboundary in Southeastern Europe.

2) Sardar Muhammad Tariq, Chairman PWP also attended the Eye on Asia Day on 18 August 2009 during World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He also acted as panelist for the session on “Eye on Asia: Advances in River Basin Management in Asia” from 1400 to 1530 hours same day.

3) Mr. Karamat Ali, Programme Coordinator, PWP attended a three day workshop “Safe and Sustainable Sanitation” conducted by the Tampere University of Technology, Tampare, Finland on 10-12 August 2009 followed by the 3rd Internatioanal Dry Toilet Conference at the same venue from 12-15 August 2009. He presented a paper titled “Provision of Dry Toilets in Earthquake Hit Areas of Pakistan – Learning from First Hand Experience”.

4) Consents to become Director of PWP were received till 15th August 2009 from the PWP Members against the 9 slots of Directors becoming vacant on 14 October 2009. Total 8 consents received from the Members including 4 from existing Directors. The new Board of Directors, PWP will take oath on 15th October 2009 for their three years term.

5) A Water Awareness Seminar for School Students, Parents and local farmers of Gujjar Khan, Pakistan was held on 28 August 2009 which was chaired by Sardar Muhammad Tariq, Chairman PWP. Apart from the school students and their parents, about 40 local farmers and community people attended this seminar. Chairman PWP highlighted importance of water in connection with the Holy Month of Ramadan. The other speakers included Mrs. Shahida Ali, Co-Chairperson, Zindgani, Islamabad; Ms. Iffat Naseem, Deputy District Education Officer, Gujjar Khan (GWP partner), Local Government Representatives and Parents of School Students.

GWP Sri Lanka

1) Web Design/Blog/Podcast training for Youth in Deduru Oya to strengthen RSM activity response and communication in Community networking on illicit sand mining Held on 8th and 9th August.

2) SLWP Steering Committee meeting was held on 3rd August. SOUTH EAST ASIA GWP Malaysia

1. One of MyCWP’s partners, the National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM) conducted the 14th International Rainwater Catchment Systems Conference 2009 from 3-6 August 2009 at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

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The objective of the conference was to promote the practice of rainwater catchment systems in a variety of premises as well as provide a forum for interaction and exchange of knowledge among stakeholders. The 195 participants were from various government agencies, local councils, academe, private consultants, industry players, research institutions and foreign participants from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China, Australia, Thailand, the United States of America, Ethopia, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, Ireland, Nepal, Spain and the Netherlands.

The Conference was officiated by the Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia, Y.B. Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas. Over the three days, there were three (3) keynote sessions where 9 keynote addresses were presented, and twelve (12) technical sessions where 52 working papers and 43 conference papers presented, both local as well as international. Among the themes presented are as follows: (1) Rainwater Harvesting, Human Health and the Environment; (2) Innovation in Rainwater Harvesting Systems; (3) Small Island Rainwater Harvesting Systems; (4) Rainwater Harvesting in Watershed for Soil Erosion Control and Management; (5) Policy, Planning and Institutional Aspects; (6) Modelling for Impacts of Rainwater Harvesting; (7) Rainwater Harvesting as Supplement to Water Supply and Irrigation; (8) Capacity Building; (9) Socio-Economic Aspects; (10) Urban and Rural Community Rainwater Harvesting System Research and rainwater harvesting projects that were presented in the conference will help the government to form a strategic framework in implementing the ‘Sistem Pengumpulan dan Penggunaan Semula Air Hujan’ (SPAH) (Rainwater Harvesting and Reuse System) in Malaysia. SPAH is a government initiative in implementing sustainable development in line with the Green Technology Concept (recently launched by the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water). Most of the SPAH projects in the country are carried out by the local councils. Public awareness will play an important part in the implementation of SPAH. Outputs of the conference will help the government in preparing/amending the legislations in the implementation SPAH, i.e. During Building Approval Upon Approval Stage, or Amendment to Uniform Building By Law 1984.

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Welcoming speech by Ir. Hj. Ahmad Jamalluddin Shaaban,

Director-General of NAHRIM

The 14th International Rainwater Catchment Systems Conference

Officiated by Y. B. Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas,

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, NRE

2. The Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Malaysia (DID) and MyWP (partners of MyCWP) organized a “Workshop/Seminar on Integrated Flood Management in Malaysia” from 10-14 August 2009 at the Best Western Seri Pacific Hotel and PWTC, Kuala Lumpur. The event was co-organised with World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), UNDP CapNet and Aguajaring.

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This seminar and workshop was organised for top management and senior engineers of DID as well as those from other government departments, agencies, private consultants and NGOs involved in flood management. The IFM Seminar and Workshop was divided into two (2) parts;

Session A IFM Workshop for DID top management and senior engineers, which was

held at the Best Western Seri Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur from 10-12 August 2009.

Session B IFM Seminar for stakeholders (other government departments & agencies,

private consultants and NGOs), which was held at the PWTC, Kuala Lumpur from 13-14 August 2009

Integrated Flood Management (IFM) is founded on a broad concept that uses a combination of policy, regulatory, financial and physical measures which focus on coping with floods within a framework of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) while recognizing that flood have beneficial impacts and can never be fully controlled. IFM is a process promoting an integrated, rather than fragmented approach to flood management. It integrates land and water resources development in a river basin within the context of IWRM and aim to maximize the net benefit from floodplains and to minimize loss of life from flooding. Thus, occasional flood losses can be accepted in favour of a long term increase in the efficient use of flood plains. The objective of the seminar and workshop was: To introduce IFM concepts and tools available for implementing IFM to DID top

management and all relevant stakeholders. To develop consensus by DID top management on the strategies to implement IFM and

incorporate IFM into existing flood mitigation development master plans. To get feedback and support from relevant stakeholders on DID’s new IFM strategies to

address floods in Malaysia

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Participants of the IFM Workshop on 10-11 August 2009

Opening Ceremony of the Seminar on IFM in Malaysia on 13-14 August 2009

by Y. Bhg. Dato’ Zoal Azha bin Yusof, the Secretary General, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

Participants of the IFM Seminar on 13-14 August 2009

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SOUTHERN AFRICA

Members of GWPSA Steering Committee, RTEC , Secretariat and CWPs participated actively in the Annual global side meetings and CP in Stockholm. GWPSA shared the regional partnerships strategic planning processes and outputs during the Chairs and Coordinators, Communications, Toolbox meetings and CP sessions. In particular, GWPSA emphasised the importance of the technical function being acknowledged throughout all levels of the network, the need for partnership and institutional development at all levels, as well as fund raising and the capacities required to do so successfully;

GWP Eastern Africa and GWP Southern Africa were very proud to officially hand over their consolidated IWRM regional assessment report to the AfDB at the side event on Africa at WWW. A total of 24 countries in Africa were included in this assessment, highlighting IWRM progress as well as gaps and challenges but more importantly lessons and opportunities for future work in these two sub regions which can build on the progress made in IWRM. Discussions are underway with the AfDB for future collaborative work with GWP on accelerating IWRM implementation in the 2 sub-regions;

Following the PAWD Reference Group review of the IWRM planning process in Swaziland, GWPSA is pleased to announce that the Ministry of Energy and Natural resources has officially accepted the Reference group contributions and have started the process to ensure that the key findings and advice of the Reference Group will be incorporated into the revised version of the National IWRM Master Plan.

Beyond declarations and commitments in Africa During the World Water Week in Stockholm, The African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), GWP, Africa Development Bank (AfDB) and ANEW organised the Side Event “Beyond declarations and commitments in Africa: Perspectives for the future and what is required”. The event reviewed the important steps taken by Africa so far in implementation of the Sharm el Sheikh Declaration on Water and Sanitation and Integrated Water Resources Management plans. The upcoming new President of AMCOW sent a vibrant message about the importance of the role of water resources management in adapting to the impact of climate change on the continent recognizing the number of actions that will be necessary to realize the goals of Africa’s water and sanitation security. Other key partners (UNSGAB, AWF and G8) to Africa’s development also participated in the discussions. At the event GWP Eastern Africa and GWP Southern Africa officially handed over their consolidated IWRM regional assessment report to the African Development Bank. A total of 24 countries in Africa were included in this assessment, highlighting IWRM progress as well as gaps and challenges but more importantly lessons and opportunities for future work in these two sub regions which can build on the progress made in IWRM. The event was notably an important step in keeping a close focus on the progress Africa is making in implementing high-level commitments. During the session, it was noted that AMCOW, AFDB, ANEW and GWP should continue to mobilize other partners and institutionalize the side event as a regular mechanism for undertaking review and sharing information during the Stockholm Water Week. The outcomes of such a process would provide elements that feed into the annual Africa Water Week for policy and political action in order to accelerate implementation of the Sharm el Sheikh Declaration on water and sanitation.

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A report of the side event is available here: http://www.gwpforum.org/gwp/library/Report_WWW09_SideEvent.pdf WEST AFRICA GWP West Africa held its Steering Committee meeting at Paradise Suites Hotel in Banjul (The Gambia) on 07 and 08 August, 2009. It held under the patronage of the Gambian Minister of Fishery, Hydraulics and headed by Hama Arba Diallo, the chair of GWP WA. The Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Fishery, Hydraulics, Dr M. Momodou Musa JALLOW, welcome participants and expressed the appreciation of the Government for the choice to hold the meeting in the Gambia. He added that The Gambia has already developed and adopted its roadmap for the development of the IWRM Action Plan. After the official ceremony, the activity report of the Programme for Improving Water Governance in West Africa (PIWAG) was presented and approved by the Steering Committee as well as the reframing of the remaining activities of the Programme funded by the EU and GWPO. The SC also debated the challenges to the implementation of the 2009-2013 GWP WA regional Strategy. The meeting was a opportunity for the Secretariat to exchange with the committee set up in the Gambia working on the establishment of a Country Water Partnership in the country. GWPO was represented to this meeting by Aurelie Vitry, Network Support Officer for West and Central Africa.