How can transboundary water cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa be strengthened and consequently support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Goal 6 in particular, in the region?
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."
GWP representatives from global, regional, and country level took part in 27 different public sessions at this year’s World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, 26-31 August. Sessions covered a full range of topics, such as Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), ecosystems, urban, migration, drought, financing, transboundary, youth, etc. The GWP booth also had themes every day of the week, which included capturing the voices of the visitors, and networking.
On her visit to the Hellenic Parliament on 27 February 2020, Global Water Partnership Executive Secretary, Dr Monika Weber-Fahr, extended an invitation to Greek Parliamentarians and Government to strengthen their collaboration with the Global Water Partnership network, in order to address global and regional challenges to water security.
29 May 2021, the Junior Water Prize (JWP) Final was broadcast live to 900,000 audiences online. 15 teams of 13-18-year-old students from 8 provinces shared their innovative products and answered the jury to realize their innovative solutions to improve water and environment development. Zhan Hanchu and Huang Haoxing, Guangdong Experimental Middle School, won the award for their "voice-controlled water saving device”.
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.
