International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year to commemorate the movement for women's rights. For 2018, International Women’s Day comes on the heels of unprecedented global movement for women’s rights, equality and justice. This has taken the form of global marches and campaigns, including #MeToo and #TimesUp in the United States of America and their counterparts in other countries, on issues ranging from sexual harassment and femicide to equal pay and women’s political representation. In this context, the UN theme for the 2018 International Women’s Day is “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives”.
World Water Day is an annual observance day on 22 March to highlight the importance of the world’s water resources. For GWP, this an important day to be an 'ambassador for water' and the network participates in celebrations around the world in various ways. Here are some of the highlights of 2018.
"Advancing Non-Conventional Water Resources Management in Mediterranean islands and coastal areas: local solutions, employment opportunities and people engagement," is a regional conference organized in Malta on May 10-11 to celebrate the 10years of the NCWR Programme in the Mediterranean.
The Volta Basin Authority (VBA), the Global Water Partnership West Africa (GWP - WA) and the World Meteorological Organization are organizing the Regional Training Workshop on Integrated Flood Management (IFM), Preparation and Financing of IFM projects from 20th to 24th November 2017 within the premises of the VBA Executive Directorate in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
The SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue is an event organised by the SADC Directorate of Infrastructure and Services, Water Division to provide a forum for practitioners in the region to have a dialogue with water using and water influencing sectors. The underlying objective is to ensure that the interventions in the water sector are well communicated to the non-water sector actors and also create an environment to receive inputs from them. Dr. Ken Msibi explains the objectives of the 8th SADC Multi-Stakeholder Water Dialogue.
GEF/UNDP/GWP-Med project 'Enabling transboundary cooperation and integrated water resources management in the extended Drin River Basin' (GEF Drin Project) is making forces to raise public awareness about the natural wealth and legacy of the Drin River Basin on the occasion of Drin Day 2018.
GWP participated in the UN climate conference in Marrakech, COP22, with representatives from various parts of the network. Adaptation and financing were two topics that dominated many discussions, with a strong youth perspective throughout.
GWP SAS held a Sub Regional Coordination Meeting leading to 8th World Water Forum in Brasilia back-to-back with the Annual Regional Council meeting on 29 October 2017 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The Constitutive General Assembly of the Platform of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) of the Mono Basin was held on Friday 8 December 2017 in Lomé, Togo. It brought together CSO delegates from Benin and Togo with the support of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), through the Partnership for Environmental Governance Programme (PAGE).
