The 6th PIDA Week was postponed in 2020, but it is now set to take place 18-21 January. The event is hosted by the Government of South Africa under the auspices of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The theme is “New decade, new realities, new priorities – positioning PIDA and infrastructure development in Africa’s continued growth and economic recovery”. On 18 January, GWP Africa and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) are co-convening a session titled “Mobilising resources for PIDA Water Projects”.
GWP, GEF IW:Learn and Partners have opened a MOOC on “Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security.” The aim is to bring together countries that share freshwater resources – giving them the skills to cooperate so that the shared resource is managed sustainably for the benefit of each country’s population. The self-paced MOOC is available on the SDG Academy platform - it is free and open to everyone - but especially designed for professionals who manage and make decisions about transboundary waters in ministries and river basin organisations, as well as young professionals and future leaders in transboundary waters, including undergraduate and graduate students.
In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” In that spirit, we are delighted to share the personal journeys from 78 Water ChangeMaker semi-finalists who have changed the world for the better.
The national technical workshops to review and consolidate the draft baseline analysis on Early Warning Systems (EWS) and related recommendations for the development of flood and drought risk maps and the establishment of an Early Warning System were held in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) on October 8 and 9, in Bamako (Mali) on October 27 and 28, 2020.
Last year the global pandemic exposed how current governance systems are inadequately prepared to address systemic challenges that threaten humanity. Better preparedness can make communities more resilient to large scale threats. On 2 June, GWP launched a report, “Mobilising Change: 10 years of climate resilient water investments”, which is a contribution to implementing transformative development to solve climate change challenges to water security.
The Independent Dialogue on Advancing Water- Energy- Food (WEF) Nexus approaches to achieve food systems transformation in Central Asia convened by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) was held online on 15 April 2021.
This dialogue is one of a series of multi-stakeholder dialogues that insights emerging from these meetings will be presented to the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in September 2021.
After almost five years since the initiation of the administrative process to change its legal status, Country Water Partnership, Cameroon (GWP-Cmr) is now an NGO following a Ministerial Decree n° 00000005 of April 1st 2020. This change in status brings along a number of advantages the possibility to seek direct funding from government ministries and related organizations in order to advance its mission of ensuring water security in Cameroon. In an interview with the Chair of GWP-Cmr, Mr. Mamoudou Ousman talks about GWP- Cmr, what prompted the need for a legal status change, benefits and challenges, and shares lessons learnt with other Country Water Partnerships (CWPs) in the GWP-CAF network looking to change their legal status.
In 2014, GWP and UNICEF established a strategic partnership to work on climate resilience and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). The collaboration resulted in a Strategic Framework and a range of technical briefs and guidance notes to support the implementation of the Framework. In February 2018, a website was launched with the knowledge products. Since then, they have become among the most downloaded publications with GWP involvement. To mark World Toilet Day 2019 (19 November), which has a strong link to WASH, GWP followed up on the use of the material.
