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Water Governance

Monday, 14 June 2010 12:14 administrator
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Water Governance

National Integrated Water Resources Management Planning
“Water is Everybody’s Business, from Cabinet to Community”

Water bodies span large geographic areas and connect many different sectors of society. An overarching national planning process for agreeing how a country’s water resources should be managed, and how to coordinate management initiatives is a vital to ensure water gets to those who need it.

The IWRM planning programme supports member countries develop governance structures that ensure that water management is inclusive and takes into account of the needs of all users. This includes the development, promotion and implementation of appropriate policy, planning, regulatory frameworks and community awareness.

The Regional IWRM Resource Centre manages information and facilitates knowledge exchange between national and regional stakeholders, partner organisations, and other international water programmes. The Centre collects and provides resources to assist government and other actors with the information they need to implement IWRM processes and develop partnerships with other interested actors.

Pacific Partnership Initiative on Sustainable Water Management Coordination Unit
“From Vision to Action”

The Pacific Partnership Initiative on Sustainable Water Management is a voluntary partnership of water and wastewater stakeholders with a common goal of achieving sustainable water and wastewater management in Pacific Island Countries. The Coordination Unit of the Pacific Partnership Initiative on Sustainable Water Management core functions are to:

a) Produce quarterly newsletters that cover Pacific News; Actions; Publications; Multimedia; Websites; and Water Agendas;

b) Develop and maintain the Pacific Water Action Matrix; and

c) Develop and maintain a database of member partners contact details.

The use of the partnership is a unique model for regional project implementation and members of the partnership are playing active roles either through participation in national activities or regional support programmes.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 August 2011 09:34  


Newsflash

Coverage increases to help 6 Pacific Island Nations better respond to natural disasters

The Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Pilot was renewed today for its second season, with Cook Islands newly joining five other participating Pacific island countries - Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu - to gain insurance coverage against earthquake, tsunami and tropical cyclone risk. The second season will run from November 1, 2013 to October 31, 2014.

The insurance scheme aims to provide a rapid injection of funds in the event of a major disaster, to help governments manage the immediate costs of recovery. Access to post-disaster finance can be especially important for Pacific island countries which endure some of the highest average annual losses from natural hazards in the world – up to 6.6% of GDP.

"Becoming a member of the Pacific catastrophe risk insurance program provides us with an innovative way to work with other countries in the region and transfer some of the catastrophe risk borne by Pacific island nations to the international reinsurance market,” said Mark Brown, Minister of Finance and Economic Management for the Cook Islands. “This transaction provides us with another tool towards becoming self-reliant in disaster management, response and recovery."

The scheme’s expansion follows the request of countries during this year’s Forum Economic Ministers Meeting in Tonga to grow the program beyond the five pilot countries. Aggregate insurance coverage of the participating countries has increased from US$45 million to US$67 million, with further premium reductions for participating countries.