This year, World Water Week broke with traditional themes by showcasing innovation for a ‘water-wise world’. The foremost annual water conference brought more than 15,000 participants to Stockholm – physically and virtually – to rethink how we can responsibly manage water with the aid of innovation. With more than 20 events as well as a booth, GWP played its part in putting water at the centre of development.
GWP-Med is leading the "Maximising impact through communication, dissemination and exploitation" Work Package of the new Horizon2020 SpongeWorks project, coordinating activities that will boost the project's visibility and overall impact. SpongeWorks will implement 19 sponge measures in three demonstrator sites in France, Greece and a transboundary basin shared between the Netherlands and Germany aiming to enhance water retention and management while contributing to climate resilience and ecosystem health. Through effective communication and dissemination strategies, GWP-Med will ensure the project's results are widely shared with stakeholders, facilitating broader adoption and long-term sustainability of sponge measures.
On 18 July 2025, stakeholders in the Beninese section of the Volta River basin established a national coordination committee for natural resource users in the basin. The event took place in Natitingou and was chaired by the Prefect of Atakora, Ms Déré Lydie M. CHABI NAH.
This event showcases various drought management initiatives across Latin America and the Caribbean. It brings together experts, policy makers, and scientists who will share how droughts impact and manifest themselves in their respective countries and localities.
The African SIDS Blue Economy Project, a joint initiative supported by the Global Environment Facility, implemented by UNDP, and executed by the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa, under the leadership of the African Union Commission as the focal custodian of the project, was showcased at the Africa Blue Economy Week taking place at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Africa Blue Economy Week took place from 23 to 25 September 2025.
The African Union Commission has trained representatives of Ministries of Water from African Union (AU) Member States in developing Climate Resilient Water Investment Programmes and Green Climate Fund Projects. The training which preceded the AU-AIP Water Investment Summit, took place from 11 to 12 August 2025 in Cape Town, South Africa.
The governments of Mozambique and Zimbabwe have pledged their commitment to tackling social, economic, and environmental challenges on the increase in the Buzi, Pungwe, and Save (BUPUSA) River Basins, shared exclusively by the two countries. The commitment was expressed through the signing of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the BUPUSA Watercourses by ministers for water in the two countries, on 29 November 2024. The 10-year SAP was developed by the two governments with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and technical support from the Global Water Partnership Southern Africa and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
