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.
August 12 marks International Youth Day, and the 2021 edition has the theme, “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health.” We spoke with youth in West and Southern Africa about their involvement in GWP activities around water and food. What are the challenges and how can youth contribute to securing the water-food chain?
Mali Country Water Partnership (CWP Mali) held its tenth General Assembly of Partners in Bamako on February 10, 2021 bringing together about fifty (50) delegates representing organizations from the public and private sectors, NGOs and Civil Society, donors and the media.
At the U.N.’s Stockholm+50 Conference, GWP and partners explored how the concept of water alignment can enable transformation across stakeholders and sectors, strategies, political leadership, finance, and action, with water as a central driver for sustainable development and climate resilience.
In our series of inter-regional discussions on gender equality and social inclusion, GWP’s Liza Debevec invited GWP South Asia’s Lal Induruwage, and Ashish Barua of the Swiss development organisation Helvetas, to talk about meaningful and inclusive participation in decision-making and partnerships. This is something both their countries – Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – have made great progress on in policies. However, they both agree that gaps still exist between policies and reality on the ground. One of the big challenges is lack of accountability.
Photographs of women walking down dirt roads with jugs of water on their heads – cast in roles as water carriers instead of water managers – is not yet a thing of the past. A new report launching on 16 September shows progress has been slow and the management of this vital resource is still male dominated.