As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many meetings, workshops, and consultations suddenly went online. In many parts of the world, in-person meetings were impossible for a long time, and only now are slowly resuming. In other parts, hybrid meetings with online presence and in-person participation are becoming the new norm. Each of these formats comes with its pros and cons. In-person meetings allow for broader and deeper discussions, while online meetings are logistically easier to manage and make it easier for more participants to join. A new publication analyzes the impact that different formats can have on the quality of the interaction in the context of multi-stakeholder consultations.
GWP celebrates 25 years in 2021, and we are introducing the anniversary website gwp25years.org. The launch took place in connection to the GWP Regional Days (31 May-3 June), an annual gathering of GWP’s staff worldwide. The new website is a place to capture the collective celebration of what the network has achieved so far, and to look to the future. It is a place where everyone is invited to share messages and where they can be part of the journey to make good water governance a reality for everyone.
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 16 November, the Transboundary Freshwater Security Governance Train stopped at its last destination for this year. Participants had the chance to learn about water diplomacy and negotiation, as well as the tools and methods that can be used to peacefully settle conflicts over shared waters.
On 21 October 2021, GWP and GWPSA supported the National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP), implemented by UNEP and UNDP with funding from the Global Environment Facility, in convening a webinar which explored Integrating Climate Risks in the Water Sector” with a focus on National Adaptation Plan (NAP) formulation.
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 our partners.
The 9th session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP9) to the UN Water Convention concluded on 1 October after a week of sessions, all serving to review and propose action towards transboundary water cooperation. GWP Executive Secretary Darío Soto-Abril was a panelist in a high-level session on the theme of 'Water and Peace'. One of his key messages was on the importance of turning challenges into opportunities.
