Executive Secretary outlines next steps
for GWP
After months of exhaustive consultations,
the Global Water Partnership (GWP) presented its Framework for Action —
documenting the steps needed to achieve the Vision for Water for the 21st
Century — at the Second World Water Forum at The Hague in March this
year. Stockholm Water Front, the Stockholm International Water
Institute’s (SIWI) quarterly magazine, spoke with Khalid Mohtadullah,
Executive Secretary of GWP, on how GWP intends to follow up on the
Framework for Action now the Forum has concluded.
What is GWP’s role in taking the
Actions forward?
It is important to emphasise that GWP is
only one of several supporting mechanisms helping to take the Actions
forward. A number other supporting actors are also involved, including the
United Nations system and the global and regional water-related
organisations such as IUCN and other NGOs. Naturally, the main actors for
the development and implementation of the Actions are the national level
stakeholders.
Can you tell us something about the
"post-Hague FFA" document GWP plans to prepare?
This document is being designed for the
same general audience as the original FFA and will reflect on what was
discussed in The Hague. It will offer a straightforward and easily
understandable account of the discussions on the Actions and their
implications for the global water community. It will address the concerns
raised by all stakeholders and provide clarification on the way forward
for GWP based on what was said at the Forum. We
plan to present this document at the Stockholm Water Symposium.
Has the outcome of the Water Forum had
any influence on the way GWP will work?
GWP was established as a mechanism to
facilitate actions at the national and regional level and the post-Hague
role and function of GWP will remain essentially the same. GWP will
continue to support action programmes at these levels through the services
provided through its Associated Programmes and its networking, policy
dialogue and alliance building functions provided through its regional
Technical Advisory Committees (RTACs). But, the outcome of the Water Forum
Hague has re-emphasised the importance for us to reinforce our networking
with a broader range of stakeholders, and we must focus on distilling good
practices in integrated water resources management for wider dissemination
and adoption. Through our strategic assistance mechanisms, GWP will
continue to support regions and countries in their national action
programmes and in doing so, the central challenge for us will be to
strengthen both our key core functions and to realign them in support of
the implementation of the FFA.
Some groups think of GWP as a donor –
is this correct?
GWP is not a donor. Instead, GWP’s
Financial Support Group, or "FSG" as it is known, co-ordinates
and facilitates financial support to the Associated Programmes providing
strategic assistance to the regions. Increasingly, the FSG is developing
into a forum for strategic discussions by the donors on their
contributions to water resources management and development activities.
The GWP is not a channel for direct financial support to national or
regional project development and implementation: this is left to the
regional and national representatives of the international donor agencies
and to the national governments themselves.
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