The Valuation of Ecosystem Services of Lake Ohrid, under the GEF Drin Project, was one of the key inputs informing the development of the Lake Ohrid Watershed Management Plan, now approved by the responsible authorities of Albania and North Macedonia.
“Back in 1991, as a fresh Ph.D. holder in Environmental Biology from the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India, I never had a dearth of opportunities to work as a scientist. However, I was keen to use my skills and knowledge for practical applications for betterment of community. With this idea, I started my career as a Woman Programme Manager for watershed management with a Non-Government Organization (NGO) at Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India.” Dr Veena Khanduri, Executive Secretary-cum-Country Coordinator of India Water Partnership (GWP India) shares the story of her career journey in celebration of International Women's Day (IWD2020).
The Support Package provides guidance and tools on how countries can design and facilitate multi-stakeholder processes aimed at monitoring and reporting of SDG indicator 6.5.1. The goal is to employ SDG 6.5 national monitoring and reporting frameworks to identify, through multi-stakeholder consultations, critical areas for attention that hinder progress on IWRM.
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting societies and economies of countries at their core at different levels. It will most likely increase poverty and inequalities in South Asia, making achievement of SDGs even more urgent.
World Water Day, held on 22 March every year since 1993, focuses on the importance of freshwater. For the 2021 edition, UN-Water is leading a campaign about what water means to people, its true value and how we can better protect this vital resource. The conversations gathered will inform a report about what water means to people around the world.