GEF SGP-Pacific IWRM Partnership Launched

[Chris]

Launch of the GEF SGP-Pacific IWRM Partnership for Strengthened Community Participation in Integrated Water Resource Management in Pacific Island Countries

This was an exciting week for Pacific IWRM. Marc Wilson and I participated in the GEF Small Grants Programme’s (GEF SGP) Pacific Workshop convened on Fiji’s coral coast. We met and heard presentations from Dr. Delfin Ganapin, Global Manager of the GEF SGP, Mr. Terence Hay-Edie, GEF SGP’s Programme Specialist for Biodiversity, and the Pacific’s GEF SGP National Coordinators.

Marc made a great presentation on behalf of the project entitled "IWRM in the Pacific: Water is Life from Community to Cabinet and Ridge to Reef". This presentation provides some great examples of the need for strengthened community participation in IWRM to ensure longer-term sustainability of our efforts. Click the image below to download Marc's presentation.


Click the slide above to download the presentation

After a very lively and productive discussion about possible synergies and areas of collaboration between GEF SGP and the Pacific IWRM Project, Dr. Ganapin and Marc signed a Joint Communique to launch a SGP GEF-Pacific IWRM Partnership on Strengthened Community Participation in IWRM in Pacific Island Countries. Here is the full text of the communiqué:


Delfin Galapin and Marc Wilson signing the Joint Communique

We at the RPCU will be working with the GEF-SGP Central Management Team in New York over coming months to develop guidance on operationalizing this partnership via joint efforts to strengthen community participation in IWRM throughout the region. It is anticipated that this guidance will be presented for review by Pacific IWRM’s Regional Steering Committee meeting in July as well as by your national SGP teams. In the meanwhile we strongly urge national IWRM teams to make contact with your local SGP coordinators to discuss possible areas for collaboration.

A big thanks to Dr. Sulan Chen, Programme Advisor on International Waters and Chemicals at GEF SGP for her excellent efforts to set this partnership up. GEF SGP is a great programme and we at the RPCU are all very excited about the opportunities this partnership brings to the water and sanitation sector in the Pacific. More information on the GEF Small Grants Programme can be found online here.

All the best, Chris Paterson


Click on thumbnails to view full size photos

[Chris]

Marc Wilson (Pacific IWRM) and Dr. Delfin Ganapin (GEF SGP)

[Chris]

GEF Small Grant Programme partners with Pacific IWRM for strengthened community action on water issues in the Pacific Islands

Suva, 2nd March 2012: Supporting community empowerment and enabling community based organisations and NGOs to guide activities that conserve and restore the environment while enhancing their well-being and livelihoods is the very essence of sustainable development.

This was the message given this week by Dr Delfin Ganapin, Global Manager of the Global Environment Facility’s Small Grant Programme (GEF SGP) at a signing of a joint communiqué to officially launch a partnership between GEF SGP and the GEF supported Pacific Integrated Water Resources Management Project (Pacific IWRM).

The partnership aims to strengthen community involvement in integrated water resource management in the Pacific to improve implementation of “Community to Cabinet” approaches to water and wastewater management from “Ridge to Reef” and thereby also improve community resilience and environmental outcomes for many small islands.

“What we hope this partnership will do is better enable community based and civil society organisations to undertake activities that strengthen and complement the wider work of the Pacific IWRM project,” Dr Ganapin said. “Active community participation instils a sense of ownership, fosters understanding and increases the capacity of people to deal with the issues that affect them on a daily basis.”

“I hope that our partnership with the Pacific IWRM project will result in strengthened coordination of actions and activities at local, regional and international levels to enhance the effectiveness of IWRM. Small Island Developing States in other regions, including the Caribbean and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans will also be able to learn from experiences here in the Pacific.”

Marc Wilson, Regional Project Manager for the Pacific IWRM project, said being able to support increased community involvement in national demonstration projects was key to the project’s success and in sustaining community and environmental benefits.

“Many times communities are left out of big projects, either due to lack of funds, capacity, or through poor planning,” Mr Wilson said. “Our partnership with GEF SGP will help to identify and develop community level actions to bring more civil society influence to ongoing national and regional level reforms in the water and sanitation sector.”

“There are many needs and opportunities for community based projects to help with pressing water and sanitation issues in Pacific Islands,” Mr Wilson said. “The types of initiatives GEF SGP can support include efforts to help communities in the Laura area of Majuro Atoll better manage their use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides above the critically important Laura Water Lens. Another example could be a small project to help farmers in Fiji’s Nadi Catchment use land in a way that doesn’t exacerbate flooding problems. Often these community initiatives can have significant influence on policies and laws by showing decision makers the positive benefits of local action.”

The Pacific IWRM project entitled “Implementing Sustainable Water Resource and Wastewater Management in Pacific Island Countries” is a regional project to build the capacity of Pacific Island countries to manage water resources. 13 national demonstration projects are being run in 12 Pacific countries to show the practical benefits of integrated water resources and wastewater management.

The project is executed regionally through the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC). In partnership with SOPAC, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are implementing agencies for the project. More details are available at www.pacific-iwrm.org.

The GEF SGP channels financial and technical support directly to Civil Society Organisations and Community Based Organisations for activities that conserve and restore the environment while enhancing people's well-being and livelihoods. SGP supports activities in support of the GEF priorities of biodiversity conservation, abatement of climate change, protection of international waters, prevention of land degradation, and elimination of persistent organic pollutants.

Contact: Tiy Chung, SOPAC Communications Advisor, Phone: +679 338 1377 (ext 290) or Mobile: +679 998 7586