2021 marks 25 years since Global Water Partnership (GWP) was founded with a mission to foster Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and – ultimately – to achieve a water secure world. Throughout 2021, celebrations will take place in the worldwide network of 3,000 Partners, highlighting past successes and setting new goals for future achievements.
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.
On 2 June 2021, GWP-Med and the Coca-Cola Company were invited to present the results of their 10+ year collaboration on NCWR technical solutions, at the launch event for the GWP report "Mobilising Change: 10 years of climate resilient water investments".
The event series, “Transboundary freshwater security governance train” continued on 20 April. The initiative is a collaboration between GWP and Wuhan International Water Law Academy, and the topic of the 4th session was “International Water Law and Climate Change.” Around 120 participants joined the online session. “Climate change is one of the biggest challenges in international water law,” said event Co-Chair Barbara Janusz-Pawletta.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has worked on water for food issues for over four decades, and therefore the decision to join the Water ChangeMaker Awards as a Knowledge Partner was a happy one, says Claudia Ringler, Deputy Division Director of IFPRI's Environment and Production Technology Division. According to her, all water decisions affect climate resilience in one way or another.
GWPEA is implementing the “Strengthening Drought Resilience for Smallholder Farmers and Pastoralists in the IGAD Region (DRESS-EA) Project in four Riparian countries of Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda. The project, which is undertaken in collaboration with the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) aims at increasing the resilience of smallholder farmers and pastoralists to climate change risks mainly those related to drought, through the establishment of appropriate early warning systems and implementation of drought adaptation actions in the IGAD region.
With the advent of International Women’s Day 2022, GWP-Med is presenting the “Male Voices on Gender Equality”. Aiming to highlight the male perspective on gender, we asked seven of our male partners from the Mediterranean the following question: "Why is it essential to empower women in water cooperation settings?"
The Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021 takes place online on 25-26 January. It is a global conference that promises to accelerate, innovate, and scale up the world’s efforts in adapting to the inevitable effects of climate change. During the event, the finalists and winners of the Water ChangeMaker Awards will be featured and announced in two different sessions.