"Water is life. But water is also a threat to life." GWP participated at the Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters, organised by UNSGAB at the UN Headquarters in New York on 6 March 2013. The Special Session on Water and Disasters, an initiative of the UN Secretary-General, will be held at the United Nations to raise awareness, share experiences and good practices, and discuss ways forward towards global actions on water and disasters. The meeting includes high-level participation from the Crown Prince of Japan, Honorary President of the United Nations Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, GWP Patron HRH Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, the Netherlands, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Mr. Vuk Jeremic, President of the United Nations General Assembly, Dr. Han Seung-soo, Founding Chair of the High-level Expert Panel on Water and Disasters and the Board. Read more about the event: http://unsgab.org/news/130306.htm

1. GWP : Building water security and climate
resilience through the IWRM approach
Dr Ania Grobicki
Executive Secretary, GWP
05 March 2013

2. GWP´s Vision – a water secure world
Enough water for all – for society, for economic
development, and for ecosystems
Reducing risks of drought, floods, landslides, water-borne
diseases – all the negative aspects of water
Improved quality of life for the most vulnerable, especially
women and children
Through an integrated approach – holistic, participatory,
working with all sectors and stakeholders
MISSION – To support the sustainable development
and management of water resources at all levels

3. A growing international
network since 1996
• 13 Regional Water Partnerships (RWPs)
• 80 Country Water Partnerships (CWPs)
• 2,823 Partner organizations in 167 countries
• Grown 7-fold since 2004

4. GWP: Network, Partnership
and InterGovernmental Organization
“A partnership is not the sum of its parts,
it is the product of the parts' interaction.”

5. Building Water Security through the IWRM approach
IWRM is the means to an end, an approach, a set of tools
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is a process
which promotes the coordinated development and management
of water, land and related resources in order to maximise
economic and social welfare in an equitable manner, without
compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems and the
environment

6. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)
Integration of sectoral interests is the key
Coordination, Integration (vertical/ horizontal,
decentralisation, stakeholder dialogue and involvement

7. 54 Tools
54 tools
383 Case
Studies
+ archive of national
IWRM plans

8. IWRM on the international agenda
2002 : WSSD, Johannesburg : Countries undertook to develop and implement
IWRM and water efficiency plans (by 2005!)
2012 : Rio + 20 : Countries reaffirm the IWRM approach; UN-Water Status Report

9. Implications of climate change :
More climatic extremes
Run off variation (1960-90 /2070-90)

10. GWP Framework for Water Security and Climate Resilience
Better climate information/climate services
Climate
Climate Disaster Risk
Disaster Risk
Adaptation
Adaptation Reduction
Reduction
Water
Water
Security
Security
GWP´s role :
- Reaching out to the climate community and the disaster risk management community
- Linking water security with these agendas at national level, regional level, global level
- Advocating that better water management is essential for building climate resilience
(a ”no regrets” strategy) // Building national and regional programmes

11. 10 years of the WMO-GWP Associated Programme on
Flood Management
Established in 2001 to promote the concept and practice of
Integrated Flood Management (IFM)
Guidelines and tools developed, incl. Flash floods, urban flood
management, delta governance/risk management
2009 : launch of the IFM HelpDesk as a demand-driven
mechanism to support countries in flood risk management
36 Support Base Partners provide active knowledge base and
backstopping
HelpDesk has supported 14 projects in 26 countries to date

14. Objective of the WMO-GWP Integrated Drought
Management Programme :
To support stakeholders at all levels by providing policy
and management guidance and by sharing scientific
information, knowledge and best practices
for Integrated Drought Management.
(launching March 2013 – next week in Geneva)

15. 2011 : WACDEP launched in Africa (8 African
countries,
4 transboundary river basins, 1 transboundary
"In the face of climate change, partnerships such as
aquifer) those launched in the Water, Climate and
Development Programme with Global Water
Partnership represent a good first step."
Hon. Edna Molewa, Minister of Water and Environmental
Affairs, South Africa, and President of AMCOW, at the 3rd
Africa Water Week in 2011

16. A growing international
network since 1996
Thank you !