DCU to partner with UCC in the new GEMS/UNEP

The GEMStat component will be hosted by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) through the German Federal Institute for Hydrology (FIH). After 35 years of successful operation of the GEMS/Water Global Data Centre including the global water quality database GEMStat in Canada, the Government of Germany supports the operation of GEMStat as of April 1st, 2014. Under an agreement between UNEP and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB), the German Federal Institute for Hydrology (FIH) shall provide the appropriate professional personnel, technical facilities and their maintenance and technical support. As part of its efforts towards ensuring credible water quality data from laboratories in developing countries it will support capacity building activities including conducting of performance evaluation studies in collaboration with the GPCU. The World Water Quality Assessment (WWQA) report will make use of the Water Quality data at the GEMStat database to contribute to targeted assessments. In Ireland, a new GEMS/Water Centre for Capacity Building is foreseen to lead the capacity building activities with support from a consortium of Irish universities and institutions, including DCU and UCC. The centre will partner with the FIH in Germany as co-hosts of the new GEMS/Water Programme and engage with regional hubs and other partners as appropriate. The capacity building component of the programme will build knowledge and skills for monitoring and analysing of Water Quality parameters at national, regional and global as well as institutional levels. If sufficient resources are available, the GEMS/Water member countries should eventually reach the same standard in analysis.

For further information please go to http://www.unep.org/gemswater/