Monika Weber-Fahr took up her new position as Executive Secretary of Global Water Partnership on 7 May. “As the newest kid on the block I’m feeling very humbled. I’m inspired by what the network is and what it has done in the past 20+ years, and what it can do going forward in a world where water is such a huge priority”, she says.

Bhutan Water Partnership (BhWP) aligned to the World Water Day theme ‘Nature for Water: exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century’ conducted a drainage cleaning exercise on 22 March in Thimphu, Bhutan.

GWP Senior Network Officer (SNO) Julienne ROUX took the opportunity of her stay in Ouagadougou to meet and get to know some of GWP/WA's strategic partners. Together with the executive secretary, she met the ECOWAS Water Resources Coordination Centre (WRCC) and the Executive Directorate of the Volta Basin Authority (DE ABV).

Julienne ROUX, Senior Network Officer (SNO) for GWP-WA, made a week-long immersion visit to the Regional Executive Secretariat in Ouagadougou.

Taking advantage of his stay in Abidjan as part of the establishment of the ABCBT, the Chair of GWP-WA had an exchange meeting on Thursday 26 April 2018 with stakeholders of the CWP Côte d'Ivoire (PNECI). The meeting was attended by some members of the Steering Committee and the Scientific and Technical Committee of the CWP. The exchanges focused on the revitalization of the Country Water Partnership of Côte d'Ivoire.

The ECOWAS/WRCC accompanied the countries sharing the Comoé, Bia and Tanoé river basins (Mali, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire) in the process of establishing a common authority.

On Friday, April 27, 2018, the Benin Youth Parliament for Water (RB/PMJE), launched the project "My School Is Not a Garbage Can" (MENUP) at Godomey College. An initiative supported by CWP Benin as the technical partner and coach of the RB/PMJE.

To support local authorities in the development of initiatives to promote Integrated Water Resources Management, CWP-Benin in partnership with Protos highlighted 4 initiatives for the economic development and local governance of water from artesian boreholes in the Mono basin.

The CWP chair, Mamadou Alpha HANN led the Executive Secretariat to meet with the President of Commission No 3 of the Economic and Social Council (ESC), Mr Maurice DOPAVOGUI, accompanied by Mrs Guilao Joséphine LENO, former Minister and member of the ESC, to discuss the possibilities of collaboration with his institution.

The Joint Support Programme for Integrated Water Resources Management (PCA-Gire) organized on 12 April 2018, in Bamako, a workshop on surface water quality in Mali. The workshop aimed at reflecting on the problem of river pollution in Mali by identifying the major polluters and innovative solutions to improve surface water quality in the country.