GWP and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) launched a new Perspectives Paper, “Storing Water: A new integrated approach for resilient development." The launch took place in a webinar on 24 February, gathering about 300 people for what is to be the start of a broad cross-sector dialogue on water storage.
The Water ChangeMaker Awards was launched during the World Water Week, 22nd March 2020. The submission of an application was opened from 6 April and last until 14 June 2020, after extend-ed for one week. The award aims to make visible the teams and organizations that shape water decisions that build climate resili-ence – and to create and support a community of ChangeMakers who contribute and learn from each other in shaping the lessons learned about how to make positive change happen. The initiative is designed to make sure that everybody will benefit from oppor-tunities to Connect, Collaborate, and to Celebrate.
In the framework of the implementation of the activities of the integrity action plans in the Communes, a workshop to strengthen the capacities of communal actors was organized and brought together about forty actors. Participants include water, hygiene and sanitation managers, members of the Drinking Water Consumers' Associations (ACEP), those of the Citizen Participation Unit (CPC), the Heads of Development and Planning Services (C/SDLP), the Heads of Communication Services (C/com) and the Heads of Administration and Finance.
A GWPSA delegation, led by Executive Secretary Mr. Alex Simalabwi, has met with H.E. Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar, on 9 September 2021 in Zanzibar Town to discuss GWP work in the region.
In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” In that spirit, we are delighted to share the personal journeys from 78 Water ChangeMaker semi-finalists who have changed the world for the better.
In an event on the margins of the World Leaders Summit at COP26, former Tanzanian leader and Chair of Global Water Partnership Southern Africa and Africa Coordination, H.E. President Jakaya Kikwete called on the international community to support the establishment of an International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa, which is urgently needed to accelerate investments in water security on the continent.
A High-Level Water Investment Conference, which will take place in hybrid format in Zanzibar, Tanzania on the 11 March 2022, is set to explore solutions for accelerating and transforming the investment outlook for water and sanitation in Africa.
Social inclusion and gender equality are long-established, core values of the GWP Network and manifested in the GWP Gender Strategy and the GWP Gender Action Piece. In a series of inter-regional discussions, GWP Senior Gender & Social Inclusion Specialist Liza Debevec sets out to identify what GWP as an institution can do to apply the concepts in these documents. Her first discussion is with Amy Sullivan and Andrew Takawira, who are both involved in a large Pan-African project on gender transformative water and climate investment. The discussion topic is institutional leadership and commitment, which is the first of 4 action areas in the Gender Action Piece. Their message is clear: leadership makes all the difference.
On 18 May, the event series “Transboundary freshwater security governance train” continued with a session on “International Water Law and Infrastructure.” Over 100 participants took part in the event, which was co-organised by GWP and the International Water Law Academy (IWLA) of Wuhan University. The question at the heart of the discussion was: what are the rules of international law that govern transboundary infrastructure development?
