“Integrated water resources management says it all. We have to talk about the inter-dependencies of water. Water is life, we say, and it really connects to everything … If water is connected to everything, we have to act on that, but we shy away from the real understanding of what water means … either because of its complexity … or because it is connected to past practices and vested interests.”
How well is the world managing its water resources? To answer that question, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), with the UNEP-DHI Centre and Global Water Partnership (GWP), have analysed the responses from 186 countries to the survey instrument on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 6.5.1 – the degree of implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) – showing that the world as a whole has advanced from 49% in 2017 to 54% in 2020. While this does show definite progress, 107 countries are currently not on track to meet the target of implementing IWRM by 2030, and to reach the global goal, the current rate of implementation would need to at least double.
This year, the World Water Week organised by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is held as a full-scale digital event on 23-27 August. The theme for 2021 is "Building Resilience Faster". GWP is involved in several sessions throughout the week. The confirmed sessions are listed below.
The Togolese capital, Lomé, hosted from 25 to 27 January 2023 the regional training workshop on impact-based forecasting, procedures for the elaboration of warning bulletins and the myDewetra-VOLTALARM Early Warning System (EWS) in the Volta basin.
To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of GWP's existence, we decided to interview 25 of our most renowned people and their relation to GWP CEE. In this article, we focused on GWP personnel.
In 2020, Global Water Partnership (GWP) in collaboration with The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the custodian agency, which coordinates reporting on SDG 6.5.1 indicator, together with UNEP-DHI Centre and Cap-Net, operates the SDG 6 IWRM Support Programme, to support 60 countries in implementing the survey. For the PAN Asia region, the reports have successfully submitted and it is now the time to find out the lesson learned behind the process.
Investments in water security must be at the center of solutions for both climate change and post Covid-19 economic recovery. Specifically, investments in water information, institutions, and infrastructure encompassing all levels are essential.
Water projects are six times more efficient when women are part of the team. Yet there are still massive gaps in the employment of women in the water sector, particularly for jobs that are onsite or require a strong science background. On 22 September, GWP collaborated with Community of Women in Water (CWiW) and World Bank Equal Aqua on a virtual event that discussed how to support women to join and thrive in the water sector.
The "WATER IS IN OUR HANDS" initiative, by FINISH and GWP-Med, aims to raise awareness on water saving, by showcasing practical ways to use water more efficiently.