News
BrasÃlia Workshop 2017
The GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre team, together with the GEMS/Water Regional Hub, based in the National Water Agency in Brazil (http://www2.ana.gov.br/Paginas/EN/), hosted a successful Scoping Workshop in BrasÃlia, Brazil, in January 2017. The Workshop was entitled Ambient Water Quality: monitoring for management and SDG reporting.
The Workshop brought together and strengthened relationships between thirteen National Focal Points and Country Representatives from the Latin American and Caribbean Region. The aim of the Workshop was to reinforce the role of GEMS/Water in the region, and to determine capacity development needs for water quality monitoring whilst also introducing the monitoring methodology for Indicator 6.3.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Indicator 6.3.2 will provide a mechanism for countries to determine whether water quality management measures are contributing to the improvement of water quality in inland water bodies.
Participants were given the opportunity to share the current status of ambient water quality monitoring in their country and highlight the challenges and opportunities faced. Such difficulties include lack of quality assurance and data management expertise to wider issues such as resource availability.
Based on the outcomes of the Workshop, both the GEMS/Water Capacity Development Centre and the GEMS/Water Regional Hub will tailor specific training material to support countries in the Latin America and Caribbean Region. This training and assistance in terms of ambient water quality monitoring will enable countries to produce reliable water quality data for inclusion in the GEMStat database. Such data is also crucial to inform management decisions, formulate appropriate policies and protect ecosystem health within countries.