For more frequent updates and to get involved, please see our website at www.gwopa.org.
GWOPA is happy to announce new networking and sharing functionality on its website at www.gwopa.org. These interactive features have been created to facilitate not-for-profit exchange amongst the world's water operators and to strengthen the site as a global resource for information on Water Operators' Partnerships (WOPs).
Registration to the site via the Pipeline will allow you to upload your operator/utility/organization profile and WOPs profiles, search for your potential partners and WOPs good practices, and search and upload the documents you want to share or you have been looking for!
4th GWOPA Steering Committee Meeting in Amsterdam
GWOPA held its 4th Steering Committee Meeting on the 1st of November in Amsterdam on the occasion of the International Water Week Amsterdam.
SC members discussed progress of GWOPA and regional WOPs platforms in 2010-2011 and adopted GWOPA’s work plan for the coming year. The committee adopted a terms-of-reference for its Integrity Sub-committee and supported a Call for Expressions of Interest in GWOPA hosting.
Photos are available on the Pipeline and the Facebook GWOPA page.
GWOPA @ International Water Week in Amsterdam
GWOPA attended the International Water Week in Amsterdam, especially the “Each One Teach One” WOP Conference which took place in the World WaterNet Office in Amsterdam on the 2nd of November.
The IWW was dedicated to integrated solutions covering the entire water cycle. It aimed to bring the worlds of water technology, integrated water resources and water management together. The IWW featured knowledge exchange and innovative solutions in water technology, water quality and water management at a local, national and international level. 
Some stories from the talks in Amsterdam are available on The Broker.
The Conference started with a welcome address by Mr. Johan de Bondt, Director Water Board Amstel, Gooi and vecht which was followed by presentations by GWOPA’s Faraj El-Awar and Waternet’s. Gerard Rundberg, Director of World Waternet. At the plenary session, we also presented the findings from three case studies on WOPs in Asia.
At the "Workshop 3: WOPs and Economical spin off belong together!," where the discussion was made on the issue of "mentors' motivations," GWOPA chaired the session as a leading coordinator of the workshop.
New partnership with UNDP Geneva Office - Hub for Innovative Partnerships
Since June 2011, GWOPA has been participating in efforts to 
universalize a “1% Water and Sanitation Solidarity Levy” that would enable water and sanitation utilities to apply a proportion of their revenues to international solidarity efforts. The initiative arises from a partnership between the Hub for Innovative Partnerships of the UNDP and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) aiming to help fill the global gap in funding to water and sanitationSimilar mechanisms operating in European countries have greatly facilitated the uptake of WOPs. GWOPA aims to promote the broad adoption of 1% mechanisms as a means to enable more WOPs worldwide, particularly in Asia and the Pacific, and bringing it to the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille in March 2012.. In addition to contributing to the scale-up of such funding mechanisms globally, GWOPA is working to link current local government and utility beneficiaries of such funding mechanisms to WOPs.
Appointment of new WOP-Africa coordinator
GWOPA is happy to welcome Mr. Mouhamed Fadel Ndaw as the new WOP-Africa coordinator. WOP-Africa is the African regional platform for WOPs and is a program of AfWA (African Water Association). Mr. Ndaw joined WOP-Africa on the 1st of October and will be shortly posted in Johannesburg, where the local water provider RandWater will be hosting the secretariat.
GWOPA @ Stockholm World Water Week
At this year’s Stockholm World Water Week, GWOPA took part in two seminars:
• Benchmarking Governance of Private and Public Utilities in Urban Settings with a Corruption Angle cohosted with the Water Integrity Network.
• Pro-Poor Urban Water and Sanitation Provision: how can it be supported by participation, benchmarking and WOPs
The Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, which became a member of the GWOPA Steering Committee in March 2011, is in charge of providing water and sanitation services to the 3 million inhabitants of Nairobi city.Nairobi Water Company’s was formed following the Water Act 2002, which created several new institutions to manage and regulate water resources in the country. Under the new Act, water service providers are licensed by water service boards to retail water in their jurisdictions. Nairobi Water Company is one such water service provider, which was appointed by the Athi Water Service Board to provide water and sewerage services to the residents of Nairobi and its environs.
The Nairobi Water Company is a subsidiary of the Nairobi City Council. The company however, has operational autonomy to enable its to run efficiently and without interference. Currently, of the three million residents of Nairobi, only 50 per cent have direct access to piped water. The rest obtain water from kiosks, vendors and illegal connections. Of the existing customers, about 40 per cent receive water on the 24-hour basis.
The Nairobi Water Company is committed to ensuring that all stakeholders receive water regularly and efficiently and that the water reaching the customers is of highest quality. The Company aspires to be a role model among other water companies established across the Africa.
GWOPA is currently involved in a pilot initiative with the Nairobi Water Company and the Institut Francaise de Recherche en Africa (IFRA) for collecting and displaying performance indicators disaggregated at neighborhood level in GRUBS. The pilot will be used to facilitate dialogue between stakeholders and users for better infrastructure and service provision planning. Nairobi Water is now in the process of starting its WOP on Water Safety Plans with the Rand Water, South Africa, which data will be available once the WOP has started. -> Profile of NCWSC on GWOPA website
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