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”.

Michèle Okala coordinates the work of RECOJAC – the Network of Water and Climate Organisations of Central African Youth. She is one of the founding members and she is also in charge of youth issues for GWP Central Africa. Michèle has been volunteering for over 8 years, and she shares some insights to what she has learned – and what she hopes to leave as her legacy: “I created RECOJAC for the generation that will come after me. I am only laying the foundation.”

“Connection leads to protection because when you feel connected to something, you feel a responsibility to care for and protect it,” says Stephanie Woodworth as she reflects on her experiences over the past few years – from winning the 2016-2017 edition of the Great Waters Challenge, to working on a number of water-related youth projects and finding her motivation to reach her goal of connecting people to water, especially the younger generation.

The International Symposium on “Water and Culture: Learning from Water Heritage to Innovate Regional Development” was held on 3 February in Tokyo, Japan. The aim was to achieve a deeper understanding of relations between people and water by visiting water heritage around the world. About 260 people from 43 countries participated, among those GWP Chair Howard Bamsey and GWP Technical Committee Chair Jerome Delli Priscoli. Dr. Delli Priscoli shared reflections from the U.S. experience on water resources.

GWP Central America is one of the organisations contributing technically and financially to the consultation process and final draft of the regulation of the General Water Law of Honduras.

Migration is a complex and multi-layered issue, with many pre-conceptions and controversies surrounding the debate on it. On 22 January, GWP together with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and Partners, organised a webinar to shed some light on the linkages between water insecurity and outmigration from rural areas.

With the start of a new year, a new decade, and with a new GWP Strategy, GWP Central America Executive Secretary Fabiola Tábora says that it is important to have all GWP Partners and allies working together. In a video interview she talks about the 3 thematic areas of the Strategy and highlights some of the things that GWP Central America will be working on in each of these areas.

Since being adopted by the GWP network last year, the new GWP Strategy 2020-2025 – Mobilising for a Water Secure World – was launched at a series of events around the world throughout the second half of 2019. The strategy calls for urgent action on, and agile responses to, the world water crises.

Communications is key for development, something recognised by both GWP and Sida, Sweden’s International Development Cooperation Agency, and one of GWP’s founding Partners. On 22-23 November, the Communication teams of GWP and Sida joined forces with Malmö University’s Master's in Communication for Development in convening a 2-day seminar for their students as part of the course on "Media, globalization and development."

In one of its key activities at COP25, GWP announced a new collaboration with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other partners, to create plausible water solutions for a climate-resilient future in 2030 and beyond. The initiative is called "Water Resilience Frontiers: Pathways for transformational Climate Resilient Water Security in 2030 and Beyond".