The 9th session of the meeting of the Parties to the UN Water Convention was organized from 29 September to 1 October 2021. On this occasion, GWP-Med had the opportunity to present the breath of its work on transboundary water management, the water-energy-food-ecosystems Nexus approach as well as the role of women in promoting transboundary water cooperation, during the MOP9 meeting and in several side events.
Last week, an online ceremony marked the end of Danube Art Master 2021 environmental arts competition. Despite hard times, competitors submitted hundreds of artworks.
The GWP Steering Committee members appointed Ms. Jamilla Sealy as Vice-Chair of the committee with immediate effect. Sealy, who joined the committee in December 2020, also holds the first-ever permanent youth seat.
A series of national workshops in the six countries of the Volta Basin were held in Burkina Faso on 23 and 24 June, in Togo and Côte d’Ivoire on 28 and 29 June 2021.
In 2021, GWP and Wuhan International Water Law Academy are co-organising a series of events under the topic "transboundary freshwater security governance train." The first session took place on 19 January focusing on “Transboundary Water Agreements”. Over 80 people worldwide participated, and over 120 questions were submitted ahead of the event – even more during the live session, showing a strong interest in the topic.
The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security has entered its second year, and coinciding with this, the interactive series of sessions that explore related topics resumed on 21 September. Over 100 participants joined the event on the topic of international water law and dispute settlement. The speaker presentations highlighted the complex and long-running nature of international water disputes.
GWP co-designed a webinar series on farmer-led irrigation (FLI) in partnership with the World Bank, the International Water Management Institute, and the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute. The 2-part series, which concluded on 9 July, highlighted the need for innovative water solutions to support agricultural production systems in a changing climate. FLI development has gained increased attention as one of the solutions to build climate resilience for smallholder farmers. GWP is involved with stakeholders in several countries on FLI initiatives.
Using the key IWRM challenges identified in Stage 1, the aim of this stage is to facilitate a government-led multi-stakeholder process to formulate and prioritise appropriate responses to those challenges. The result of Stage 2 is typically an IWRM Action Plan (the name might be adapted for each country), which includes a series of attractive investment opportunities to systematically guide the implementation of solutions to IWRM challenges.
The Japanese Government, in cooperation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), launched an online platform for sustainable and resilient recovery from COVID-19. Non-state actors were invited to contribute video messages – with GWP Chair Howard Bamsey stressing that water is at the heart of climate change adaptation.
