12 August marks International Youth Day - the 2019 theme is “transforming education”, highlighting efforts to make education more relevant, equitable and inclusive for all youth. GWP launched its Youth Engagement Strategy in 2015 and has since then been actively pursuing various youth initiatives. Coinciding with International Youth Day, GWP's new Youth Engagement Specialist, Rianna Gonzales, takes up her new position in the GWP secretariat in Stockholm, Sweden. She describes the youth sector as “an explosion of energy and hope."
13 October marks the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. The day is centered around the seven targets of the Sendai Framework, and this year focuses on Target D: reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services. According to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) floods are the most common natural disaster with the largest impacts on society. GWP Senior Network Specialist Frederik Pischke says that there are great published insights that can help those in need to build resilience – online HelpDesks on flood & drought management offer practical support.
20 Mediterranean journalists, members of the Circle of Mediterranean Journalists for Environment and Sustainable Development (COMJESD - founded in 2002 by MIO-ECSDE and GWP-Med) , and 45 NGO representatives participated in a series of events with emphasis on Mediterranean Coastal Wetlands in Rabat, Morocco, on 16-18 December 2019.
Coordinated by GWP Eastern Africa and implemented by the Sahara and Sahel Observatory, $13, 079,540 from the Adaptation Fund will go towards strengthening smallholder farmers’ and pastoralists’ resilience to the adverse effects of drought in the IGAD region.
In preparation for the upcoming GWP Network Meeting 2020, GWP-CAf organized a virtual meeting on October 16th with the participation of over 45 partners from Congo, Central Africa Republic, Cameroon, Chad and Sao Tome and Principe.
The 25th Regional Council (RC) Meeting of GWP South Asia was convened by the Regional Chair from 19-20 October 2019 at Ro-Chog Pel Hotel in Thimphu, Bhutan.
The finalists of the Water ChangeMaker Awards have been announced at the 2020 GWP Network Meeting. Oyun Sanjaasuren, Director of External Affairs for the Green Climate Fund, Chair of the stage two Water ChangeMaker thought leaders’ jury and former GWP Chair, presented the 12 change journeys that now enter the final stage of the Awards.
