A mixture of personal and professional characteristics led Maria Angelica to a career in Civil Hydraulic Engineering: “On the personal side, a strength of character combined with a dose of rebellion and of not accepting the status-quo just because it is what it is. Professionally, something that brings a sense of strength is talent combined with a great technical capacity and professional training. With these characteristics it is less complicated to position yourself as a woman leader because it also allows you to disrupt sexist and discriminatory biases in the water sector.” In celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD2020), Maria Angelica shares her career story.
The Asia Region Online Workshop Supporting the Monitoring and Implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 6.5.2 on Transboundary Water Cooperation is held virtually on 17 September. GWP is one of the partners behind the workshop.
Africa is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to a number of interlinked challenges, including land degradation, poverty, and extreme weather events. The continent also has a low adaptive capacity, in part due to financial and technical constrains, and a heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has reiterated the need for member states to use an integrated approach for the development of water, energy and food sectors, stating that it helps improve natural resource use efficiency and result in accelerated development.
Gender-specific information reported through a SDG 6.5.1 survey showed that gender-related aspects were among the least advanced among all aspects of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). On 16 September, the SDG IWRM Support Programme is organising an online event to share learning experiences from the survey and discuss what actions to take to improve gender mainstreaming.