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World Health Day is celebrated annually on 7 April and each year draws attention to a specific health topic of concern to people all over the world. The theme for 2021 is "Building a fairer, healthier world".

Africa is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to a number of interlinked challenges, including land degradation, poverty, and extreme weather events. The continent also has a low adaptive capacity, in part due to financial and technical constrains, and a heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture.

The Masungi Georeserve was announced winners of the Water ChangeMaker Awards in a ceremony at the Climate Adaptation Summit on 25 January. Their project is about restoring forgotten watersheds through youth-led movements. In a Facebook Live session on 4 March, Billie Dumaliang, representing the winning team, encouraged youth to be brave and creative, and to work together when tackling their climate challenges.

The Water, Energy, Food (WEF) Nexus is an important vehicle for advancing the socio-economic agenda in Zambia and attaining the national vision 2030, says Zambia permanent Secretary for Water officiating the Water, Energy and Food Nexus National Dialogue for Zambia. The dialogue was held on 14th December 2021 in Lusaka, Zambia to identify national WEF nexus priorities and highlight the benefits of how improved sectoral coordination can accelerate national investment opportunities.

On 20 December 2021, the Malawi Ministry of Forestry and Natural Resources, in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Water Division, the Global Water Partnership-Southern Africa (GWPSA) and the Malawi Water Partnership convened the Malawi Water, Energy and Food (WEF) Nexus Dialogue to discuss the WEF Nexus concept in the Malawi context and highlight its potential in reducing poverty, enhancing climate change adaptation, and spurring social-economic development in the country.

The United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS) organized a workshop on February 15 on "Reflections on Water as a Development Accelerator.

 

On 27 October, Global Water Partnership and Wuhan International Water Law Academy organised an online engagement session based on the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security. The topic was ‘Does the world need more International Water Law?’ The event attracted approximately 100 participants. “One of the most encouraging feedback was a participant who realized ‘we don’t need to be lawyers to work with international water law.’ We tend to think that it is always lawyers who exercise the law, but the law is there to be exercised by anyone,” said GWP’s Yumiko Yasuda after the event.

The Regional Climate Weeks are key meetings that help build momentum for the annual UN Climate Change Conference and drive forward regional implementation of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The 2021 Asia-Pacific Climate Week (APCW 2021) takes place in a virtual format on 6-9 July.

The first Transboundary Freshwater Security Governance event for 2022 kicked off on 16 February and included 150 participants from around the world. They explored how the design of Transboundary Water Agreements may affect their performance, and the ‘key ingredients’ that should be considered when creating such agreements.