5 August 2014: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Brazil’s National Water Agency (ANA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), under which ANA will host a regional center for water quality monitoring and become the national focal point for UNEP’s Global Environment Monitoring System for Water (GEMS/Water).

The partnership, signed in July 2014, in São Paulo, Brazil, was established under UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) and the UNEP Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC)-Brazil Office. The MoU was signed by Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director, and Vicente Andreu, President of ANA.

As the Brazilian focal point for GEMS/Water, ANA will collect data and share information on water quality in line with UNEP standards. On regional and international activities, ANA will promote the GEMS/Water Global Water Quality Data and Statistics (GEMStat) and support capacity-building activities in the area of water monitoring in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). The partnership will also, inter alia: launch studies and assessments on water quality; support activities by other GEMS/Water participants; incentivize more countries to join GEMS/Water; and promote data sharing through the web-based UNEP Live data platform.

Speaking at the signing, Steiner stressed efficient management of water resources and South-South collaboration as key measures to ensure sustainable use and protection of water resources, as well as economic development.

The GEMS/Water program is a global UN network on water quality monitoring, coordinated by UNEP, with over 100 participating countries that provide close to four million data entries, from over 4,000 stations, ranging from 1977 to the present. [UNEP Press Release] [UNEP Brazil Press Release (in Portuguese)] [UNEP GEMS/Water Website] [GEMStat Website]