In Somalia, water is life - literally. It is also a country where much is happening today. The one-person-one-vote election to take place in early 2021 will be a historic milestone in the country’s road back to security, stability, and wellbeing. The economy is growing, driven by increased confidence, reforms, and bank development, and the business community is resilient, globally connected, and entrepreneurial. New opportunities for economic cooperation and integration on the Horn of Africa plays to the country’s advantage. Still, water remains a critical factor in Somalia’s development pathway. It is a water scarce country, at risk of climate related variability, and has to improve its capacity to manage water well in coming years.
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.
The Country Water Partnership of Niger together with the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation through the Permanent Secretariat for IWRM (SP/PANGIRE), the Directorate General of Water Resources (DGRE) by Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP-WA) have submitted a project proposal “Water for growth and poverty reduction in the Mekrou sub-basin in Niger” or "Mekrou Project Phase 2 - NIGER".
The Silk Road began in ancient China and connected with Asia, Africa and Europe. It has developed from a land-based commercial route to a communication link between East and West in economic, political and cultural aspects. The “Belt and Road” aims to borrow the historical symbols of the ancient Silk Road. Contemporary Silk Road pays attention to sharing and win-win and realises the diversified, independent, balanced and sustainable development of countries along the route through the interconnection of Asian, American and European continents and nearby oceans.
The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) convenes the 2020 edition of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) from Tuesday 7 July to Thursday 16 July. The event will mainly be in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with some limited events held for New York-based participants.
GWP held its annual Network Meeting on 25-26 June 2019. Following last year’s success, the meeting was held in a Follow the Sun format – a 29-hour long, online meeting of back-to-back sessions with all GWP regions. A big topic was the new GWP Strategy 2020-2025, which is due to be launched shortly – the meeting adopted the network's new strategic directions.
Global Water Partnership (GWP), the African Union Developmental Agency AUDA-NEPAD, the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), and Development Bank of Southern Africa held a consultative meeting on 24th November, on the development of a water investment scorecard to track progress in mobilising water investments in Africa.
The 2021 European River Symposium will focus on building connections between institutions, organizations and companies with an interest in rivers and whose activities affect the health and quality of river water and ecosystems.
