“Over the years, I have learned that the water crisis affects women and girls especially in rural areas with high vulnerability. Where there is no water, women and girls must carry heavy drums of water for kilometres, endure the hardness of the soil, and experience the insecurity to ensure their families the human right of access to drinking water and sanitation.” These are the concerns of Carmen Gonzales, Chair of GWP Nicaragua, as she shares her career story in celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD2020).
Huiping Chen is a Professor of International Law at the Xiamen University School of Law in China. She also leads the GWP China Fujian Provincial Partnership. She says that opportunity has played a key role in her successful career. In celebration of International Women's Day (IWD2020) she shares her story:
“Back in 1991, as a fresh Ph.D. holder in Environmental Biology from the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India, I never had a dearth of opportunities to work as a scientist. However, I was keen to use my skills and knowledge for practical applications for betterment of community. With this idea, I started my career as a Woman Programme Manager for watershed management with a Non-Government Organization (NGO) at Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India.” Dr Veena Khanduri, Executive Secretary-cum-Country Coordinator of India Water Partnership (GWP India) shares the story of her career journey in celebration of International Women's Day (IWD2020).
“Water in our region – where 98% consists of desert – means much more than anywhere else. It is an interesting subject, with an interesting expert community – and it is also the subject of interest to various players. My female ancestors lived under very hard pressure, but they were leaders, and they passed this gen on to me”, says Guljamal Nurmuhamedova, Regional Coordinator for GWP Central Asia and Caucasus (CACENA). In celebration of International Women's Day (IWD2020) she shares the story of the females in her family, which shaped her own destiny: “I am part of my family”.
In the lead-up to International Women’s Day 2020 (8 March), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Sida has kicked off what they refer to as a super-year for gender equality. This was announced at a seminar on 5 March at the Sida headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, under the theme “Generation Equality: Adolescents, Gender Equality and SRHR”.
The National Water Partnerships of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan, under the sponsorship of the Embassy of Canada to Turkey and the support of GWP CACENA, are implementing a project (“Strengthening the capacity of women representatives of Turkmen and Azerbaijani non-governmental organizations in the fields of natural resource management & climate change adaptation through training activities and knowledge sharing with Georgian civil society”) aiming to increase women activity in environmental protection.
The Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA) will be launching its Strategy for 2020 – 2025 themed “Mobilizing Investments for A Water Secure Southern Africa”, to its partners in Pretoria, South Africa. The Strategy, to be launched at a meeting to mobilize investments for a water secure southern African region, will guide how GWPSA will focus its work between 2020 and 2025 in line with the GWPO Global Strategy.
In its new Strategy for 2020-2025, GWP has committed to “purposefully reach out to and mobilise youth groups and younger individuals to confront water resources management challenges”. This statement is based on a commitment that GWP made in 2015, in its Youth Engagement Strategy. Now, a very tangible outcome is being introduced – a close collaboration with GWP and youth organisations to make sure that the voices of youth are heard.
Sida, Sweden’s International Development Cooperation Agency, and one of GWP’s founding Partners, held its annual development forum on 14 October. This year, the event highlighted gender and the inequalities that still exist around the topic. This aligns with GWP’s Gender Strategy.
