Darío Soto-Abril took up his new role as GWP Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on 1 March. In this interview, he shares his vision for the network at a time when GWP celebrates its 25th Anniversary. He also reflects on his personal view of water, as he answers the World Water Day 2021 question on what water means to him. Going back to childhood memories of growing up in Colombia, he has two words for this: happiness and equality.
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.
The Caribbean Science Symposium on Water by the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C), takes place virtually on March 23rd – 25th, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time (AST) on each day. The theme of the event is “Building Resilience in the Regional Water Sector to Address Climatological and Hydrological Risks and Threats.”
GWP Central America is coordinating a series of workshops regarding integrated drought management in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, which are part of the project “Increasing Disaster Risk Reduction Capacity due to Floods and Drought and Promoting Resilience in Central America”, financed by EUROCLIMA+.
The 11th Petersberg Climate Dialogue (PCD) is held as a video conference on 27 and 28 April. The United Kingdom, as President of the next Climate Change Conference (COP 26), co-chairs the PCD. The event focuses on sustainable recovery after the current health crisis.
The recent IPCC report paints a grim picture of the future of our planet. A red code for humanity. We pushed the climate into unprecedented territory, and now is the time to act, says GWP Executive Secretary Darío Soto-Abril in a statement responding to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. He stresses that to succeed in the battle against climate disaster, we need to work in unison.
Desertification, along with climate change and the loss of biodiversity, were identified as the greatest challenges to sustainable development during the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on 17 May to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification.
On 7 October, GWP Chair Howard Bamsey was the keynote speaker in the second of a series of webinars organized by the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) on the road towards the 4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit in 2022. He spoke to the topic of "Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Investors: More Risks, More Opportunities through better Governance." His speech focused on how the world can deal with the potentially catastrophic risks of climate change by changing the pattern of investment in the global economy, towards climate-friendly activities.
An assessment report on the status of Hygiene and Basic sanitation (HBS) in Benin from 2010 to 2020 shows that the Government is paying less attention to HBS compared to the water subsector and the ministry of Health is not doing the required actions. This report was validated by the twenty participants, actors of the sector and coming from various horizons to the workshop organized for this purpose, on September 24, 2021.
The Climate Resilience Investment Demonstration Project for Water Security and Climate Resilience under the AIP WACDEP-G Programme was launched on 27 April 2022 at the Hotel Quidata in Tanguiéta, Benin.
