Gender equality and sustainable development are inseparable. Addressing gender inequalities —including access to and control over natural resources— accelerates the impact of policies connected to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
For the second part in our series of partners speaking about why their communities should submit their change journeys to the Water ChangeMaker Awards, we spoke with WaterAid’s Dr Virginia Newton-Lewis, Director of Policy and Advocacy at WaterAid Sweden, highlighting the role of the WASH community.
GWP West Africa held its statutory meetings in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 23 to 26 September on the theme "Accelerating progress in IWRM implementation to achieve water-related SDGs in West Africa: challenges, innovative approaches and roles of partnerships". These include the meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee on 23 September; the Steering Committee on 24 September 2019; and the Assembly of Partners (AP) on 26 September 2019. On 25 September, the regional dialogue was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Sanitation of Burkina Faso, the ECOWAS Water Resources Management Centre and the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UEMOA).
The 2020 GWP Network Meeting concluded on 22 October, with over 900 GWP Partners signed up for the virtual event and others watching the Facebook Live feed (not covered the EURASIA ses-sion). The overall theme was ‘Bringing the Change’ in the context of the GWP 2020-2025 Strategy and as the world faces a pandem-ic. The session covers the global plenary session (Opening and closing) and 3 continental sessions; Latin America and Caribbean, EURASIA, as well as Africa and the Mediterranean.
On 23 June, GWP Chair Howard Bamsey took part in a panel discussion on water and climate organised by pharmaceutical company Bayer and the Water and Climate Coalition. Bamsey said the water community needs to better articulate the central role of water in climate: “Water is a part of the climate struggle.”
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5), the effects of climate change will reduce renewable surface water and groundwater resources in most dry subtropical regions. These changes may intensify competition for water among all sectors, strain already water-scarce environments, and negatively impact water quality and quantity globally. Transboundary water basins are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts, says Sonja Koeppel, Secretary of the UNECE Water Convention, as she highlights the up-coming Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on freshwater security that GWP is developing together with partners.
What is so special about water diplomacy? And where does the discussion on women and gender fit in?
Placing women, water and diplomacy in the same sentence, often enough causes reactions that include head-scratching and eyebrow-raising; the link among them is not easily -nor well- understood.
