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GWP West Africa held its statutory meetings in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 23 to 26 September on the theme "Accelerating progress in IWRM implementation to achieve water-related SDGs in West Africa: challenges, innovative approaches and roles of partnerships". These include the meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee on 23 September; the Steering Committee on 24 September 2019; and the Assembly of Partners (AP) on 26 September 2019. On 25 September, the regional dialogue was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Sanitation of Burkina Faso, the ECOWAS Water Resources Management Centre and the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UEMOA).

The Botswana Country Water Partnership (BCWP) was launched in October 2003 as a chapter of GWP-SA. The Partnership was established with a mission to promote collaboration and sustainable utilization and management of water resources in Botswana through exchange of knowledge, experience and the practice of IWRM.

After almost five years since the initiation of the administrative process to change its legal status, Country Water Partnership, Cameroon (GWP-Cmr) is now an NGO following a Ministerial Decree n° 00000005 of April 1st 2020. This change in status brings along a number of advantages the possibility to seek direct funding from government ministries and related organizations in order to advance its mission of ensuring water security in Cameroon. In an interview with the Chair of GWP-Cmr, Mr. Mamoudou Ousman talks about GWP- Cmr, what prompted the need for a legal status change, benefits and challenges, and shares lessons learnt with other Country Water Partnerships (CWPs) in the GWP-CAF network looking to change their legal status.

On the question why youth should submit their change journeys to the Water ChangeMaker Awards, Lindsey Aldaco-Manners, President of World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW) says: ”We have a unique opportunity to be a solution, and I think that is also why the Water ChangeMakers Awards exists, because youth are on the rise and that is something to be seen”.

As climate change and variability have increased the occurrence of disasters such as hurricanes, floods and droughts in the Caribbean region, governments have begun to give greater priority to disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts. Many efforts are being made to build capacity, influence policies and develop strategies to better equip countries and their populations to become more resilient to water-related disasters.

The Water ChangeMaker Awards are in the final stage of judging. From 350 initial submissions, there are 12 finalists. The winners will be presented during the virtual Climate Adaptation Summit on 25 January 2021. Here we recognise the top five countries where GWP partnerships mobilised the most Award submissions: China, India, Kenya, South Africa, and Uzbekistan.

On 5 November 2019, Partners of the Global Water Partnership (GWP) Southern Africa announced the new Chair of GWP Southern Africa and Africa Coordination Unit (GWPSA-ACU): His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, former President of the United Republic of Tanzania. His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete was the 4th President of the United Republic of Tanzania from 2005-2015.