World Water Day (WWD) is commemorated on 22 March every year. This year’s theme was “Leaving no one behind”. GWP and its Partners worldwide supported the theme by arranging a wide range of activities. A few of the events are highlighted here – with more photos and quotes for the day available on GWP’s Instagram account.
On Monday 8 April 2019, at Korea Global Adaptation Week, GWP launched the publication "Addressing Water in National Adaptation Plans – Water Supplement to the UNFCCC NAP Technical Guidelines". The launch event was co-hosted by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and GWP.
“Water resources management is a learning process”, said GWP Executive Secretary Monika Weber-Fahr while on a visit to South America. She spent 26-29 March meeting with representatives of the key water agencies of Argentina and Chile. Both countries are Sponsoring Partners of GWP, and Weber-Fahr’s visits strengthened a close working relationship with the countries.
A national workshop was held in Guatemala on 13-14 February to accelerate the implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), as part of a global process to advance the Sustainable Development Goal on water (SDG 6). Guatemala is one of four pilot countries that have begun a government-led process to identify IWRM solutions as a means of advancing progress on the SDGs. This work is carried out through the SDG 6 IWRM Support Programme, which is coordinated by GWP in close collaboration with the UN Environment-DHI Centre and UNDP Cap-Net.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Central America is one of the most vulnerable regions. Effects are reflected in more intense, recurrent and prolonged hydrometeorological phenomena located at opposite ends of the same spectrum: floods and drought, and the Central American Dry Corridor (CSC) is one of those most affected. In addition, it is necessary to consider existing gaps in ecosystem protection, poor resilience of infrastructure and low territorial development. Panama is not part of the CSC, but one of its regions shares similar climatic characteristics - the dry arch of Panama.
Good governance around transboundary waters is critical for water security, regional socio-economic development, peace, and stability. Since 2010, GWP has been conducting capacity building trainings on International Water Law (IWL) and water governance. While there is no shortage of trainings on transboundary water issues, the uniqueness of GWP’s IWL workshops lie in the peer-to-peer and cross-continental learning, says GWP Senior Network Specialist Yumiko Yasuda. This has proved to be a successful formula that GWP is now ready to take to the next level – an online platform to support existing training and close learning gaps.
GWP celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD) 2019 on 8 March by joining the global campaign #BalanceforBetter that reflects GWP’s commitment to gender equality. GWP also launched its Instagram account in the lead-up to the day to feature the voices of its global network – starting with the voices of those who speak for strengthening the role of women in water management.
GWP Executive Secretary Monika Weber-Fahr spoke at the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO’s) Commission for Hydrology Technical Conference “Future Hydrological Priorities and Arrangements” on 11 February in Geneva, Switzerland. She delivered a key message on the need for organising so that stakeholders can easily engage with the WMO: “From the perspective of our partners in over 180 countries, GWP is keen to see WMO continue to build its offer to be an easily accessible, reliable and credible entry-point to the world of data and knowledge on the climate/water interface.”
The Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) – a joint initiative of GWP and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) – is providing targeted drought management support to 8 countries: Ethiopia, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, Serbia, Macedonia, and Moldova as part of the UNCCD Drought Initiative.
