Freshwater Resources
UNESCO’s contribution to the development of integrated approaches for sound water management in SIDS is primarily through the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), with particular emphasis on field operations, including training activities of various kinds. This includes work supported through the UNESCO priority theme of ‘water and associated ecosystems’, a joint initiative of IHP and the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme.
In the Pacific, in close partnership with regional bodies and donor agencies, activities are focused on engaging local and indigenous communities in water resources management and monitoring partnerships and on contributing to a three-year regional training programme for water resource managers. The more formalized participation of Pacific-SIDS in the IHP is also being promoted, by rotational participation in the IHP Regional Steering Committee.
Water resources assessment in the Caribbean is being approached through one of the regional projects contributing to the worldwide initiative on Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data (FRIEND). Other activities included a project on three shared aquifers between the Dominican Republic and Haiti on the island of Santo Domingo, and a Map of Arid and Semi-Arid Zones in the Caribbean.
Other work is being undertaken within the UN-system-wide World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP).
- Caribbean: Mapping of Arid and Semi-Arid Zones
- Catchments and Communities in the Pacific
- Fifth Inter-American Dialogue on Water Management. Montego Bay, October 2005
- Participation Programme
- Regional Training Programme for Hydrology Scientists and Technicians and Regional HydrologyNetworking in the Pacific
- Shared Aquifers in Santo Domingo
- Small Islands Voice (SIV) Discussion Forum: Water Supply and Conservation
- Wastewater Management Training in the Pacific
- Water and Education for the Americas
- Water Management in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions of Southern Africa
- Water Resources Assessment in the Caribbean
- World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)