IHE Delft has held the 6th edition of the International Symposium on Knowledge and Capacity Development for the Water Sector. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the symposium – “From Capacity Development to Implementation Science” – was held online on 26-29 May, with around 500 participants from around the world. GWP is a Partner of the Symposium and hosted a session on ‘Reaching and engaging local communities.’ Recommendations from all sessions were fed into the Delft Agenda, finalised at the end of June and launched on 20 July.
Ahead of the 6 October 2020 Strengthening Drought Resilience for Smallholder Farmers and Pastoralists in the IGAD Region (DRESS-EA) project launch, GWP Eastern Africa’s chair, Peter M. Macharia, shared his insights on the project's potential impact.
August 4 -- The High-Level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP) was established to assist the international community, governments, and stakeholders in mobilizing political will and resources. HELP is committed to addressing water-related disaster risk reduction including the present challenge with the COVID-19 pandemic circumstances in hand. The consultation meeting was held to discuss and gain insights on how to practically implement key suggestions proposed in the HELP Principle to Address Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction under Covid-19 Pandemic. The consultation also aims exchanges among decision-makers, experts and practitioners in Asia region on how they can be better prepared for co-occurring disasters on water and health.
World Water Day will be commemorated on March 22nd, as it has been since 1993. The day is dedicated to emphasize the value of freshwater. UN-Water is leading a campaign to make groundwater visible in 2022. Although groundwater may be out of sight, its impact is visible everywhere.
We are happy to introduce the GWP Water Academy for Youth (W.A.Y.). The GWP W.A.Y. is an opportunity for young professionals to realise their potential in the water community, become influencers and leaders, create momentum with key actors, and enhance youth engagement and empowerment in water resources management. The first global activity is a joint GWP, CAP-NET, University of Andres/UNESCO online course, “From Learning to Leading: Beyond the ABCs of Youth, Water, and the SDGs.” Registration opens on 17 August and the course is free.
Since the end of June 2019, the Global Water Partnership for West Africa is implementing in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Volta Basin Authority (VBA) the project "Integrating Flood and Drought Management and Early Warning for Climate Change Adaptation in the Volta Basin " (VFDM).
In 2020, GWP South America organised a contest among regional Partners. The topic was on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and featured projects successfully carried out in 2020. The top 5 submissions were shared in a series of webinars during April to June this year – presenting results, conclusions, and concerns.
