June 2008

Climate change

Climate change is a matter that almost everyone is aware of although we may not yet know what impact it is going to have on our lives. Cap-Net had a consultation recently with network partners to discuss how our capacity building initiatives can be better coordinated around the issue of adapting to climate change. Networks such as REDICA in Central America have been providing capacity building on climate change and others have been addressing floods, (Cap-Net Bangladesh, Cap-Net Brasil) or water related disasters (Nile IWRM-net). Cap-Net and the Associated Programme on Flood Management of the World Meteorological Organisation are collaborating on the development of capacity building action.
Better management of water resources is believed to be one of the most important preparations for the uncertainty of water resource supplies in the future and this will be the subject of a new training programme to be developed and presented in Panama in August. The course is expected to be taken up widely across the global network and will be linked with other important materials and strategies being developed on urban flood management, community management of floods and coping with hydro-climatic disasters. These materials and programmes are all part of the climate change action plan being impemented by Cap-Net and our partners.

Masters education for Water Managers

There are many new educational programmes at Masters level that address water resources management or Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).There is uncertainty about how these graduates are being accepted in the water sector, is there a demand for their expertise and are they receiving the right education. There is still a lack of clarity about what constitutes IWRM and so it was felt necessary to bring together the various educators that are part of Cap-Net affiliated networks to discuss these and other issues. Representing programmes in Argentina, Malaysia, Caribbean, Southern Africa, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Costa Rica the discussion was rich and valuable experiences were shared. Although not a specific objective of the meeting participants agreed on follow up actions to share curricula, explore possibilities for student exchange, carry out joint collaborative research on IWRM, and to explore options to improve funding for students.
Contact Simone Noemdoe (Simone.Noemdoe@cap-net.org ) for more information on how to contribute to the group.

Network News

3-year Strategic Plan for Arab region.

Awarenet is currently developing its 3-year strategic plan for the years 2009-2011. This process is led by a Strategic Planning Working Group which includes veteran and active network members from across the Arab region. The group has met in Jordan at the Dead Sea on June 6, where the scope of the strategic plan has been defined and the process finalized.

The strategic plan should reflect the members' needs and priorities, and thus will follow the below principles:
1- Transparency
2- Participatory approach
3- Bottom-up planning

Input from all members, partners and international stakeholders is also welcomed. You can find the Framework Paper and questionnaire for your input at AWARENET website: www.awarenet.org
(Correction to the May Newsletter: Mr Paul Hanna of ESCWA is the AWARENET manager.)

Water Resource Protection in the Arab World

From 2 to 4 June 2008, the regional workshop on "Protecting Drinking Water Sources from Pollution: Policy Options and Practical Solutions" was held under the patronage of H.E. the Minister of Water and Irrigation of Jordan, Eng. Raed Abu Soud at the Dead Sea in Jordan. The workshop was organised by the regional BGR-ESCWA water project in cooperation with the MWI-BGR project in Jordan, AWARENET, ACWUA, and was funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The workshop brought together over 70 participants from competent government authorities, water utilities, academia, NGOs, the private sector and development projects from 12 Arab Countries, namely: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen, including resource people from Germany, Japan, UK and USA.

The participants issued the "Dead Sea Statement" on water protection recommendations in condensed form. The "Dead Sea Statement" shall facilitate and support advocacy work by local, national and regional initiatives and projects for water and environmental protection.

The statement could be downloaded from AWARENET website: www.awarenet.org

IWRM takes off in Barbados

The Barbados Water Authority with the Environmental Protection Division, and the Coastal Zone Management Unit are having an IWRM inception workshop in July. Support for the event is given by the Global Environment Facility-funded Integrating Watershed and Coastal Areas Management Project (GEF-IWCAM), the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI), and the Caribbean WaterNet Project.

The first half of the day will be dedicated to discussing integrated water resources management and its current application in Barbados. Participants will discuss ways in which local stakeholders can establish proactive alliances in water resources management that are representative and participatory at the community, institutional and national levels. They will brainstorm as to how Barbados can align national programmes with similar initiatives in the region and internationally, thereby benefiting from wider experience and know-how. Possible steps to be taken by Barbados to improve water governance through the promotion, enhancement and effective implementation of legislation, policy programmes and institutional regulatory and administrative frameworks will also be discussed.
The second half of the day will consist of a consultation / scoping exercise on the use of IWCAM-related indicators in Barbados.
More information can be obtained from Jacob Opadeyi, Caribbean Waternet jopadeyi@hotmail.com

Healthier Environment and Sanitation in Indonesia

This month 200 participants attended a conference in Jakarta, Indonesia to promote a healthier environment and sanitation. The conference, organised by the Jejaring AMPL program in collaboration with government departments and the private sector, was hosted by IHE-Indonesia and CK-Net.

The research presented showed that only 55% the 100 million Indonesian population have good access to sanitation. The sanitation problem is worsening each day and needs urgent attention. Linked also to the economic challenges to provide clean drinking water is the increasing negative health implications.

Based on this situation, IHE and CK-Net Indonesia had worked together to bring their experiences to be shared in the conference. Facilitated by 4 institutions (Program Studi Lingkungan Universitas Indonesia (CKNet-Indonesia member's), DAAI TV, WASPOLA and JAS) the conference discussed media involvement and a campaign to boost a healthier environment.

The conference was opened by Jan Yap, Director of IHE and CK-Net Indonesia and the Director of Housing and National Development Planning (Bappenas), Nugroho Tri Utomo.

CapNet-Brasil and the Excellence Pole in Water Resources

Recently in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais the Steering Committee of the Excellence Pole in Water Resources took office. This Pole is accredited by UNESCO as a Regional Pole for the Latin America and Africa Lusophone countries.

At the opening ceremony CapNet-Brasil was invited to make a presentation about Cap-Net and its affiliate networks to the members of the steering committee and water stakeholders, - (academics, research centers and water users) in the meeting. Ninon Machado represented the CapNet Brasil secretariat.
The ceremony was chaired by the Secretary of State of Minas Gerais for Science and Technology, University Professor Alberto Duque Portugal and the Under Secretary of State for the University, Dr. Octavio Elysio. Professor Almir Cirilo, chair of the Water Resources Fund Steering Committee, and member of the CapNet -Brasil Steering Committee, was present.
First talks about the cooperation between the Pole and CapNet-Brasil are in development. This cooperation might involve other Cap-Net affiliated networks in Africa. For more information contact Ninon Machado  ninon@institutoipanema.net

Water Utilities and IWRM.

Cap-Net is collaborating with UN-HABITAT to plan for capacity building on IWRM for water and sewerage utilities. The need for such training follows from a series of case studies carried out on water management in utilities by Nile IWRM-net, WaterNet and WA-Net in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Mali. Access to clean, safe water and appropriate sanitation is essential for human well-being but often this is carried out without full understanding of the competition with other uses and the water resource base. Utilities and water resource managers should be working together to solve problems of water quality, water demand management and water pricing. More sustainable development of water resources to meet the needs of rapidly growing urban centres demands that water utility operators are looking both upstream and downstream.
UN-HABITAT is developing a Global Water Operators Partnership to enhance the performance of water and sanitation utilities. Regional Water Operators Partnerships are in various stages of development and provide a new opportunity to improve service delivery to the poor and unserved. http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/5377_74541_frame.pdf  

Share this news with your own water network.

The Cap-Net Team

Mail: info@Cap-Net.org

Web: www.Cap-Net.org

Tel: +27 12 3309077

Fax: +27 12 3314860

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