In response to a request made by the Urban Council of Douala during the June 2020 GWP-Cameroon Steering committee meeting, GWP-Cameroon with the support of GWPO is working on a Source to Sea approach project to better manage plastic waste to ensure healthy rivers in Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala.
The 2021 edition of World Water Week concluded on 27 August after a packed week of digital events. As in previous years, GWP was engaged in many sessions. One of the milestone announcements of the week was the UN-Water release of the SDG 6 Progress Reports, based on the 2020 Data Drive initiative, which GWP contributed to through the SDG 6 IWRM Support Programme. The message from the launch was clear: we are not on track to meet the 2030 Agenda water goal so we need to urgently accelerate progress. Throughout the week, GWP presented several of its initiatives that aim to do just that.
The Consortium comprising the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a specialized United Nations agency, the Volta Basin Authority (ABV) and the Global Water Partnership in West Africa (GWP-WA) are implementing the project entitled "Integration of flood and drought management and early warning for adaptation to climate change in the Volta Basin (VFDM)". The activities of the VFDM project, started in June 2019, are continuing and will end at the end of June 2023. The VFDM project is financed by the Adaptation Fund.
To support Cameroon in the implementation of its new national development strategy 2030 which aims in part to ensure food security, the Department of National Meteorology of the Ministry of Transport (MINT) and GWP-Cameroon joined forces with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to address climate vulnerabilities in the Far North Region through a practical training of farmers in Meri on the weather, climate, and agriculture from August 18th - 20th, 2021.
Gender-specific information reported through a SDG 6.5.1 survey showed that gender-related aspects were among the least advanced among all aspects of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). On 16 September, the SDG IWRM Support Programme is organising an online event to share learning experiences from the survey and discuss what actions to take to improve gender mainstreaming.
Water projects are six times more efficient when women are part of the team, and yet there are still massive gaps in employment of women within the water sector, particularly for jobs that are onsite or that require a strong science background. How can we help women colleagues join and stay in the water sector to ensure that water solutions are the best they can be and to help communities and the environment get the water they need to be resilient? On 22 September, Global Water Partnership, Community of Women in Water and World Bank Equal Aqua organise a virtual event on this topic.
Back by popular demand, the Transboundary Freshwater Security Governance Train starts 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. In addition to GWP and Wuhan International Water Academy (IWLA), ‘Season 2’ will be co-organised with various partners working in the transboundary water governance space. The first session focuses on international dispute settlement, co-organised by GWP and IWLA, and takes place on 21 September.
