National training course on the application of economic and financial instruments in St Lucia. A collaboration between Caribbean Waternet and the GWP-Caribbean.

Water financing has been one of the issues highlighted that needs more attention and the approach of Caribbean Waternet in partnership with GWP-C is to explore opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration through its involvement in high level discussions with financial institutions, private and public sector organizations along with other stakeholders, to explore workable financing strategies for IWRM implementation in the Caribbean.

To date, two workshops have been hosted by Caribbean Waternet and GWP-C and in October 2006 the fourth High Level Ministerial Forum which attracts Ministers with the responsibility for water in the region was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica. The main theme of the forum was, “Water Financing.” 

Emerging from the above-mentioned activities, Caribbean Waternet and GWP-C, felt it was necessary to conduct further training and sensitisation on economic and financial instruments for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). To be effective, and for development in the water sector, the critical issue of water financing must be addressed.

Overall Goal

The overall goal of the Training Workshop is to build capacity within the Caribbean to apply and understand the use of economic and financial instrument for IWRM.

Objectives

The objectives of the St Lucia training course are:
• To familiarize policy makers and water resource managers with key economic implications of water policies and practices and the economic instruments available to implement IWRM
• Foster understanding and formulation of enabling mechanisms to finance development and maintenance work in the water sector.

For more inforation contact:
Prof Jacob Opadeyi, jopadeyi@hotmail.com
Paul Hinds, paul.hinds@gmail.com