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Global Water Partnership Tanzania Water Partnership was launched in February 2004 as the 8th Country Water Partnership in the Southern African Sub Region. By then, it was called Country Water Partnership. However, there were only a few activities that were registered between 2004 and 2013. The sporadic efforts to keep and sustain the partnership did not yield much success and hence dormancy dominated most of this period.
One of the sporadic effort that is documented is a seed fund that was availed in 2013 by Global Water Partnership Organization to sustain the partnership. The 2013 seed funding managed to raise the membership to close to 30. However, it was observed that most of the members who registered because of this effort were not leading institutions in the water sector in Tanzania as would have been expected. It was noted that, for the partnership to be effective, there was a need to have the key players in the water sector on board. Of course, it is a natural phenomenon for people to take advantage of a prevailing opportunity, for example the seed funding, but the challenge comes in sustaining the effort and mapping the way forward. Again, it is also natural for people not to associate with failing initiatives and hence most potential members continued to shy away from the partnership due to the glaring evidence of failure as a result of the orientation and set up of the Country Water Partnership by then.
In early 2014, after a national Global Water Partnership workshop in Dar es Salaam to discuss aligning the water sector from Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) to Sustainable Development Goals, an initial team of dedicated individuals namely Dr. Victor Kongo, Engineer Ngwisa Mpembe, Engineer Diana Kimbute, Engineer Hosea Sanga and Engineer Mwanamkuu Mwanyika and others took the initiative to resuscitate the Partnership. Since then, these individuals continued to invest their time and resources in shaping the way forward for the Partnership. During the initial stages, they engaged various stakeholders and met numerous times while seeking several options on how the Partnership could be refurbished, rebranded and sustained.
The main launching pad for GWP Tanzania was in March 2015 during the SADC Water Week. The latter was a SADC regional initiative to gather insights from each member state on developing the fourth phase of the Regional Water Programme. During the 3-day SADC Water Week in Tanzania, that was held in Kunduchi Hotel, the dedicated team of individuals managed to save approximately EUR 4,000 from their personal time input, per diems and other costs that they genuinely incurred and accounted for in coordinating the 3-day event. These funds were used to take care of the initial costs in the organization including registering the organization, paying for office rent, office supplies among others. This was part of seeds of sacrifice that the team continued to plant into the organization, on and above other funds and materials that the team contributed towards establishing the organization.
In mid 2015, the team had numerous meetings with the leadership of the Ministry of Water to discuss the various options for resuscitating the partnership. From the various options that were tabled and discussed, it was obvious that the best approach was to register the Partnership as an Non-Governmental Organization. The Ministry of Water agreed to this option and the National Chapter of the Global Water Partnership in Tanzania was registered as a National Non-Governmental Organization on 12th October 2015. The partnership was registered in the name of Tanzania Water Partnership. In 2016, the Ministry of Water and Tanzania Water Partnership signed a Memorandum of Understanding on various collaborative endeavors including capacity building, research, staff exchange among others. This collaborative framework provided an excellent platform for both parties to collaborate and many collaborative endevours have successfully been accomplished.
In 2017, Tanzania Water Partnership was fully accredited by Global Water Partnership Organization and hence officially acquired the name and status of Global Water Partnership Tanzania. In 2019, Global Water Partnership Tanzania went through an Operational Capacity Assessment that was initiated by Global Water Partnership Organization with the objective to assess its governance structures and institutional capabilities to prudently manage resources.
From 2017, Global Water Partnership Tanzania embarked on a rigorous resource mobilization process through project development. The team used their own resources to fund retreats for writing project proposals. In 2018, after many attempts, Global Water Partnership Tanzania in collaboration with other partners successfully submitted a proposal to the IDRC of which was funded to the tune of US$250,000. This was a game changer to Global Water Partnership Tanzania. Since then, with special grace, the partnership has continued to develop funded projects in collaboration with other partners. The strong leadership and well-established oversight processes at Global Water Partnership Tanzania has made it a trusted institution where funding partners are assured of prudent management of project funds with deliverables way above their expectations.
The future of Global Water Partnership Tanzania is bright. Our philosophy has always been guided by the fact that resources follow great ideas. Global Water Partnership Tanzania is always positioning itself as a think-tank and knowledge management entity in the region with clear objective to support the mandated institutions in water sector with the view to ensure water security for all.
The partnership's main objective is to promote partnerships in implementing integrated water resources management, sanitation and hygiene in the country as a means to foster equitable and efficient management and sustainable utilization of water resources for economic growth and human security. Read more on the vision of the partnership.
We focus in the following seven thematic areas
Climate resilience in water resources involves the ability of communities, ecosystems, and economies to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the adverse effects of climate change on water availability, quality, and infrastructure. This resilience is built through strategies that enhance water conservation, improve management of water supplies, and increase the adaptability of water systems to changing climatic conditions.
Sustainable growth implies, importantly, that economic growth and human development is de-coupled from negative environmental impact. Such impacts leads to degradation of ecosystems which ultimately affects the provisioning of ecosystem goods and services and intuitively key economic activities. Our societies must keep sustaining and improving ecosystem-based productive functions, services and livelihoods, and address these from a holistic perspective from ‘source to sea’.
Sustainable growth implies, importantly, that economic growth and human development is de-coupled from negative environmental impact. Such impacts leads to degradation of ecosystems which ultimately affects the provisioning of ecosystem goods and services and intuitively key economic activities. Our societies must keep sustaining and improving ecosystem-based productive functions, services and livelihoods, and address these from a holistic perspective from ‘source to sea’.
In a world where resources are becoming increasingly scarce, and environmental concerns are growing, the circular economy offers a sustainable alternative by closing the loop of product lifecycles. This model focuses on designing products for longevity, promoting reuse and repair, and ensuring that materials remain in use for as long as possible. It also emphasizes the importance of regenerating natural systems by using renewable resources and reducing environmental degradation.
