The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2020 was originally scheduled to take place in June 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was rescheduled and it is instead taking place this year on 3-11 September. It will be a hybrid in-person and virtual event, with the aim to drive action on nature-based recovery, climate change and biodiversity.
World Toilet Day celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 3.6 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. Every year, UN-Water - the United Nation's coordination mechanism on water and sanitation - sets the theme for 19 November, the day of the celebration. In 2021, the theme is 'valuing toilets'.
Stage 2 of the Support Programme builds on the IWRM challenges identified by countries in their periodic SDG 6.5.1 assessments. This phase focuses on developing tailored governance responses to address priority areas, transforming identified needs into targeted investment opportunities. By the end of Stage 2, these interventions are expected to be funding-ready, facilitating a smooth transition to implementation in Stage 3.
During an online workshop covering the issues of Gender in natural resources management in the Drin River basin, participants agreed that sustainable development and gender equality areinseperable. However, it was acknowledged that water management and the nexus water-food-energy-ecosystems remain largely a masculine domain. It was finally agreed that for a meaningful analysis and gender-sensitive policy making, institutions and a statistical system that provide gender disaggregated data are needed.
A two-day national capacity building workshops on the development of flood and drought risk maps in the Volta Basin were held in each Volta basin country with the last one in Accra, Ghana on 5 and 6 July 2021.
World Wetlands Day is celebrated on 2 February every year to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and our planet. The 2021 theme shines a spotlight on wetlands as a source of freshwater and encourages actions to restore them and stop their loss.
GWP and the International Water Law Academy (IWLA) of Wuhan University are co-organising an interactive online series called the "Transboundary Freshwater Security Governance Train". The series is conducted in an approach of a ‘train’ stopping at various locations around the world, focussing on topics related to transboundary freshwater security. At each stop, a different topic from the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security is explored. The 5th session is on infrastructure and the implementation of legal commitments, and it takes place on 18 May.
