GWP-C delves into water issues at conference in SVG

The Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C), was an active participant in the 8th Water Operators’ Conference, held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) from June 25-27, 2025.

The conference, organized by the Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association (CAWASA) in collaboration with the Central Water and Sewerage Authority (CWSA) had as its focus, ‘Empowering Water Utility Operators: A Pathway to Sustainability’.

GWP-C’s Programme Assistant, Kerron Martinez, who attended the meeting is said to have gained additional insights on critical challenges such as non-revenue water (NRW), low awareness of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), climate-risk management, and the need for operator training and certification.

“This was a valuable meeting to promote Integrated Water Resources

Management and build relationships and visibility within the regional water-utility community,” a GWP-C news release quotes Martinez as stating.

He said the session assisted in raising awareness on strategic goals in alignment with the GWP Global Strategy.

“We were able to identify the urgent need for IWRM knowledge, disaster preparedness, scaling up of nature-based solutions, implementation of innovative technologies and the need for leveraging regional collaboration for policy reform and financing access” he added.

The three day workshop concluded with a field visit to one of the water treatment plants on mainland St Vincent that supplies water to approximately 50,000 people.

The Global Water Partnership-Caribbean has expressed its deepest appreciation to the organisers of this workshop, the Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association (CAWASA) in collaboration with the Central Water and Sewerage Authority (CWSA), adding that it looks forward to future collaborations to champion Integrated Water Resource Management across the region.