On the 12th of March 2015 at Khanapura, Guwahati, India, SaciWATERs, Secretariat, Arsenic Knowledge and Action Network and INREM Foundation, Secretariat, Fluoride Knowledge and Action Network collaborated to address water related diseases such as Fluorosis and Arsenicosis that are neglected subjects within general medical curriculum. Due to the lack of trained medical personnel on these diseases and its related issues, this issue has posed challenges to offer quality medical and counseling services.
 
Over 60 participants including doctors, public health practitioners, government officials and other individuals attended the training program. For more information please contact Dr. Aditya Bastola.


2)  Training Course on Transparency and Integrity - 20 March 2015, El Salvador.

A training course on Transparency and Integrity took place on the 20 March 2015 at El Salvador. This was a replicate workshop on ‘Transparency and Integrity in the Water Sector’ which took place from 17 to 19 of March 2015 which took place in San José, Costa Rica and was attended by only Salvadorian participants. They workshop held a brainstorming session with their committee and will be planning to organise the course one month after the end of the course by collaborating with the community members and water managers in their region. For more information please contact Ms. Liliana Arrieta. 

                                     


3) Symposium on Drought Management in the Region of Chorotega, Costa Rica - 27 March 2015, Nicoya Campus of the Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica.

 
On March 27, a symposium on ‘Drought Management in the Region of Chorotega, Costa Rica’ was organised by a former participant of the course. It took place at the Nicoya Campus of the Universidad Nacional, one of the  most recent network members of REDICA. Four representatives from the Universidad de Costa Rica and Ms. Lilliana  Arrieta, REDICA's Technical Secretariat participated in this one-day capacity development in the north-western region of Costa Rica to discuss on drought and desertification as well as climate change adaptation. This location is part of the region's dry arch and has been facing hardship due to water stress. As a result of this symposium, participants from the different public institutions will be working towards a coordinated approach and local community members and private sector representatives. For more information please contact Ms. Liliana Arrieta.

                                           
                          

4) Symposium on Coastal Zone Management – 6 April 2015, University of Costa Rica.

A one-day symposium on Coastal Zone Management took place on 6 April 2015 at the Engineering building of the University of Costa Rica. Participants from different engineering courses, various university professors and academic personnel in general participated in this course. IWRM and Coastal Zone were introduced before getting into the complexities of Coastal Zone Management and the risks associated to poor management or lack of planning.  For more information please contact Ms. Liliana Arrieta. 

                                   


5) Launching of the 2015 UN Report on ‘Water for Sustainable World’ dedicated to the World Water Day – 8 April 2015, Almaty, Kazakhtan.

The World Water Day was celebrated in Almaty on April 8, 2015. UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty in collaboration with the Central-Asian Regional Water Network CAR@WAN organized a round-table presentation of the report of the United Nations ‘Water for sustainable world’ dedicated to the World Water Day. The event was attended by representatives from public, research, educational and community organizations, including non-resident representatives of non-governmental sector. Prior to the event a press briefing was held together with an online conference with regional media representatives. CAR@WAN Network Manager, Ms. Vera Mustafina, was the key speaker at the press-briefing and the moderator of the round-table session.

As a result of the event all participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with main findings and recommendations of the UN report "Water for sustainable world", dedicated to the World Water Day. Long-term result of the event was the contribution made to enhance the capacity of stakeholders. In addition to that, it was imperative to note that this event has served as a basis for strengthening cooperation between different stakeholders in the direction of solving overall problems of water resources. For more information please contact Ms. Vera Mustafina.  

                                    

 

7) ToT on Integrity Management – 14 to 15 April 2015, San José, Costa Rica.

A ToT on Integrity Management hosted and facilitated by CEWAS, AyA, Water Governance Facility took place in San José, Costa Rica from April 14-15, 2015. The ToT was part of a training for a local counterpart of the Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, Rural Services Department to promote Water Integrity. The aim of activity was to focus on skills development for facilitators, tools and the concept of Business Model. Ms. Liliana Arrieta of REDICA attended this ToT as a participant. For more information please contact Ms. Liliana Arrieta. 


8) 2015 GWP Universities Toolbox Workshop for Central Asia – 22 to 23 April 2015, Almaty, Kazakhstan.

IWRM Toolbox training for universities of Central Asia and neighboring countries was held in Almaty from 22 to 23 April, 2015. The training was organized by the Global Water Partnership (GWP), Kazakh-German University in Almaty and Central-Asian Regional Water Network CAR@WAN. Participants of the training were selected on a competitive basis. The training was attended by 29 representatives of all career level teaching staff of educational institutions from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Mongolia, including six members of CAR@WAN Network. The purpose of the training was to familiarize the participants with the tools developed by the GWP, and empowerment for the integration of IWRM practical solutions into educational programs of teachers.

Based on the results of the training, ‘Compilation of best practices’ will be released under the auspices of the Global Water Partnership in order to disseminate the experience of Central Asia on issues of teaching IWRM at the universities. For more information please contact Ms. Vera Mustafina.  


9) Regional Training Course on Water Footprint Assessments for GCC and Arab Countries – 22 April 2015, Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain.
 
A regional training course on Water Footprint Assessments for GCC and Arab countries was held at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Bahrain from 20-22 April 2015. The course was jointly organized and supported by AWARENET, the Arab Integrated Water Resources Management Network, a Cap-Net regional network for capacity development in sustainable water management, the Water, Science & Technology Association (WSTA), the Arabian Gulf University (AGU), the Middle East and North Africa Network of Water Centers of Excellence (MENA NWC), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA), and Cap-Net UNDP.
                                   
Over the course of three days more than 30 participants; government officials, researchers and representatives from NGOs from nine GCC and Arab countries successfully participated and developed their capacities on the Water Footprint Assessment concept and methodology. The course covered the Global Water Footprint Standard, experiences in Water Footprint Assessments including accounting, sustainability assessment and formulating response strategies in a variety of settings and cases. It also included technical know-how to implement Water Footprint Assessment in business water strategy and public sector policy and provided hands-on experience for detailed implementation of Water Footprint Assessments.
 
AWARENET is planning to hold further training courses on Water Footprint Assessments and other themes and welcomes regional and national partners to join efforts for further developing the national and regional capacities for sustainable water management. Full report can be downloaded here. For more information, you may contact the following personnel.
 
Contacts:
AWARENET: Dr. Ralf Klingbeil, Network Coordinator,
WSTA: Mr. Ali Redha Hussain, Executive Director,
AGU: Mr. Waleed Al-Zubari, Chairperson, Water Resources Management Program,
MENA NWC: Ms. Christel Milazzo, Middle East Activity Manager.


10) World Water Day 2015 Celebration – 26 April 2015, Penang, Malaysia.
 
In partnership with the Penang Water Supply Corporation, Water Watch Penang, a member of MyCDNet, organised the World Water Day 2015 celebration which took place at the Air Itam Dam, Penang Malaysia on the 26 April 2015. The event took place a month later than the original date of the World Water Day (22 March 2015) due to constraint in schedule and venue selection. The event was officiated by the Chief Minister of Penang, Mr. Lim Guan Eng followed by speech on the importance of wise water consumption towards sustainable development of Penang as well as preventing water rationing in the future due to climate change. Apart from that, the event includes other activities such as water theme-based drawing and coloring competition followed by environmental and water exhibition by NGOs, public and private sectors and universities and interactive games. For more information please contact Water Watch Penang President, Professor Dr. Chan Ngai Weng. 



                                     


11) Call for Research Scholarship: Promoting Young Researchers in South Asia for Grounded Gender-Agriculture Research.

Research scholarships for ‘Promoting Young Researchers in South Asia for Grounded Gender-Agriculture Research’ is now opened for applications from Bangladesh, India and Nepal. The theme for this research is “Poverty Squares and Gender Circles: Unravelling Agriculture Gaps, Challenges and Opportunities in the Eastern Gangetic Plains” and is funded by the Consortium Group of International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) Water Land & Ecosystems in partnership with SaciWATERs. The project will award three Research Grants to local, mid-career researchers, and professionals (one each in North Bengal in India, North Bangladesh and Nepal Terai). This research scholarship aims at supporting multi-disciplinary, applied research on the interlinkages between gender relations, agriculture and ecological challenges. The 3 winning grants will be selected through a competitive review process. For the more information, please contact SaciWATERs or download the full grant call and project proposal template for application.

12) (UPCOMING) Training Course Negotiated Approach in Integrated Groundwater Management – 27 May 2015, Khulna, Bangladesh.

SaciWATERs South Asia Cap-Net Network (SCAN) for the first in the series of workshops on ‘Negotiated Approach in Integrated Groundwater Management’ plans to organize a workshop on 27th May in Khulna, Bangladesh. The workshop is part of the project titled  ‘Shifting Grounds: Institutional transformation, enhancing knowledge and capacity to manage groundwater security in peri-urban Gangetic delta systems’ funded by Netherlands Organization for scientific research (NWO), under Urbanising Delta of the World-Integrated Project call. Jagrata Juba Shangha (JJS), a local NGO based in Khulna and a partner of the project consortium, will host the project. The workshop aims to address the participants on the pressing issues in effective groundwater management and how diverse stakeholders with different knowledge, access, right and bargaining power are able to negotiate among each other. The output from the workshop series will feed into developing basic module on Negotiated Approach. For more information please contact Dr. Aditya Bastola.