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.
Mr. Boyla BASSOUROU, a young professional at the GWP-WA Regional Secretariat, took part in the 13th Environment Forum and International Environmental Technology Fair - AMERICANA in Montreal (Canada) on 26-28 March 2019.
More than 180 representatives of NGOs, academia, youth centers, schools and media participated in the 2020 Drin Day celebrations throughout all Riparian countries, while more than few thousands attended online, due to this year’s COVID-19 pandemic-imposed limitations.
Back by popular demand, the Transboundary Freshwater Security Governance Train began its ‘Season 2’ in September 2021. This series of online engagement sessions follow a ‘train-like’ approach, stopping at various locations around the world and focusing on topics related to transboundary freshwater security. Each new stop explores a different topic from the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security. The Transboundary Freshwater Security Governance Train continues its journey on 16 November, with a 9th interactive session in the series. The topic for this event is water diplomacy and negotiation in international water law. It is a jointly organized by GWP and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)/International Centre for Water Cooperation (ICWC).
With hand-washing as one of the top recommendations to hinder the spread of COVID-19, the lack of access to clean water and sanitation in many parts of the world is being reported on extensively in media. Water management, and in particular the impact of climate change on water resources, has come to the fore. In recent years, GWP has collaborated with UNICEF on this issue, developing a Strategic Framework for Climate Resilience and WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), including a Help Desk that is being developed to support users of the Framework.
Since the end of June 2019, the Global Water Partnership for West Africa is implementing in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) the project "Integrating Flood and Drought Management and Early Warning for Climate Change Adaptation in the Volta Basin " (VFDM).
A multi-stakeholder consultation held in N’Djamena, Chad on September 4th 2020 revealed that the level of implementation of indicator 6.5.1 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which tracks the “degree of implementation of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)” in the country has increased from 32% (2017 baseline) to 37%.
