CARIWIN - Caribbean Water Initiative

Caribbean Water Initiative

CARIWIN is a project on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Caribbean.

CARIWIN is led by the Brace Water Centre at McGill University and the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), Barbados. The 6-year project was launched in February 2007 and is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), through the University Partnerships in Cooperation and Development (UPCD) program. The UPCD program is administered by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).

Partners

Government agencies from three partner countries – Grenada, Guyana and Jamaica – collaborate closely with the CIMH and Brace, to help achieve the overarching goals of poverty reduction and gender equality through a process of institutional capacity building in integrated water management.

Purpose

The project aims to improve existing capacity in these 3 pilot countries by involving local community organizations, water user associations and regional and national networks. Several training courses will be held each year on the principles of IWRM; hydrometeorological data processing and management; use of field instrumentation; and water policy. These courses have been designed for all stakeholders ranging from community water users to technicians to engineers to senior administrators.

"Small Island States should be natural promoters of the concept of IWRM. In small islands, there is no upstream or downstream conflicts since we are all downstream. The short flow distances to the sea and the economic role that the sea plays in our lives both for recreation and for food makes it imperative that we adopt an approach which is holistic."

—Dr. Lester Hugh Forde at the CARIWIN project launch in Barbados, February 2007