UNESCO and SADC collaborated in the development of a flagship programme called the "SADC Integrated Water Resources Management Initiative" (SADC–WIN), which was launched by six water ministers from SADC member states during the 2017 World Water Day celebrations in Durban, South Africa. In light of the increasing water-related challenges facing the region, such as the El Niño events, SADC- WIN seeks to enhance livelihoods as well as water, food and energy security in the Southern Africa region by building resilience to recurrent extreme weather events through improved water management. The programme is mindful that in order to address the root causes of the food and energy security crises, resilience building and improving people's livelihoods, an integrated holistic approach is required. Thus, the project is anchored on four pillars:
1. Strengthening planning, policies and strategies;
2. Early warning, hazard mapping, disaster risk management
3. Demonstration, innovation, action research and learning alliances; and
4. Institutional and human capacity development and awareness raising.
The SADC-WIN UNESCO session will create a platform to deliberate on the progress of the programme since its inception in 2017. Specifically, the session will present some findings from the different projects that have been implemented and/or are currently being implemented under the SADC-WIN programme. The session will also allow for a stakeholder engagement as well as formulating a way forward in order to scale up the current and other initiatives foreseen under SADC-WIN ...
Virtual 1 21st WaterNet/WARFSA/GWPSA Symposium waternet@waternetonline.org
UNESCO and SADC collaborated in the development of a flagship programme called the "SADC Integrated Water Resources Management Initiative" (SADC–WIN), which was launched by six water ministers from SADC member states during the 2017 World Water Day celebrations in Durban, South Africa. In light of the increasing water-related challenges facing the region, such as the El Niño events, SADC- WIN seeks to enhance livelihoods as well as water, food and energy security in the Southern Africa region by building resilience to recurrent extreme weather events through improved water management. The programme is mindful that in order to address the root causes of the food and energy security crises, resilience building and improving people's livelihoods, an integrated holistic approach is required. Thus, the project is anchored on four pillars:
1. Strengthening planning, policies and strategies;
2. Early warning, hazard mapping, disaster risk management
3. Demonstration, innovation, action research and learning alliances; and
4. Institutional and human capacity development and awareness raising.
The SADC-WIN UNESCO session will create a platform to deliberate on the progress of the programme since its inception in 2017. Specifically, the session will present some findings from the different projects that have been implemented and/or are currently being implemented under the SADC-WIN programme. The session will also allow for a stakeholder engagement as well as formulating a way forward in order to scale up the current and other initiatives foreseen under SADC-WIN.
Session Agenda
Session Moderator: Dr. Koen Verbist, Program Specialist; UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa
| 10 mins | Introductory presentation of the SADC-WIN by Prof. Hubert Gijzen, UNESCO Regional Director for Southern Africa |
| 15 mins | SADC-WIN Pillar 1: Strengthening planning, policies and strategies Making a case for improving groundwater governance: Governance of Groundwater Resources in Transboundary Aquifers (GGRETA) Project, Prof. Piet Kenabatho, University of Botswana |
| 15 mins | SADC –WIN Pillar 2: Early warning, hazard mapping and action research Recent progresses and future directions in Flood and Drought Early Warning Systems; Dr. Justin Sheffield, University of Southampton and Princeton Climate Analytics (PCA) |
| 40 mins | SADC-WIN Pillar 3: Demonstration, Innovation, Action Research and Learning Alliances • Innovative Strategy Towards Sustainable Water Management – the Water Chain Approach; Prof Innocent Nhapi and Prof. Hubert Gijzen, UNESCO Regional Director for Southern Africa • Groundwater monitoring initiatives in SADC; Mr James Sauramba, Executive Director, Groundwater Management Institute and Dr Neno Kukurić, Director, International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre |
| 20 mins | SADC-WIN Pillar 4: Institutional and human capacity development and awareness raising ·Online Learning for Water Resource Management (5 min); Dr. Koen Verbist, UNESCO ROSA ·Climate Risk Informed Decision Analysis (15 min); Dr. John Matthews, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA) |
| 15 mins | Question and Answer Session |
| 5 mins | Wrap-Up |
