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The 3^rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) took place in Sendai, Japan, 14-18 March. The planned outputs were met, with the announcement of a Declaration and a new Outcome Document to replace the Hyogo Framework for Action; the UN's previous disaster risk reduction deal, which expires in 2015.

Several processes that place water at the center of the development are underway worldwide (IWRM, MDGs, SDGs ...).

At the level of West Africa, ECOWAS as the main political body for development, has undertaken, among other actions, the creation of the Permanent Framework for Coordination and Monitoring (PFCM), and the development of the Regional Water Policy in West Africa (PREAO).

“Water, gender and development are closely interconnected, and GWP realizes this fully. We think that water empowers women, and empowered women transform their societies.” These are the words of GWP Interim Chair Alice Bouman-Dentener on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2016 (#IWD2016). Alongside her, some of the remarkable women in the GWP network speak up - about their journey to become successful in their professions, how to overcome obstacles they face as women, and also recommendations to other women.

The Executive Secretary of GWP, Rudolph Cleveringa, says that GWP as a network needs to change: “We can’t use the same agenda as we did 20 years ago”. Approaching World Water Day 2016, Cleveringa takes a moment to reflect on GWP’s 20 years in the water world and talks about his vision on how to make the network fit for the future – local inclusion and diversity are words he uses to make his point.

GWP Central America, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in coordination with the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD) and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) of El Salvador, organised the workshop "Integrating Water Security in the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs)." The event was held in San Salvador, El Salvador, on 27-29 October.

The Integrated Programme on Flood Management has started some activities at the end of 2015 in West Africa. The first drafts of country studies of Mali, Benin and Ivory Coast on the status and needs assessment on flood management in the Volta Basin are available.

Building up from previous awareness raising activities organized in the framework of the youth initiative run by the Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean (GWP-Med) in Tunisia aimed at making the youth’s voice heard in water resources management and climate change adaptation, and putting more emphasis on the potential of interactive games for awareness raising among youth audiences, a two-day training was organized on Aqua Republica Serious Game by the NGO “Recherche en Action” (REACT), in collaboration with the NGO “Tunisian Education and Resource Network” (TEARN).

The beauty and wilderness of Danube floodplains was continuously deteriorated by human impacts. Construction of the Gabcikovo water dam caused direct clearance of minimum 2,500 ha of floodplain forests and influence of water regime of other areas. A regional NGO BROZ located in Slovakia, has developed a project for EU funding scheme LIFE. The project aims to preserve last remaining natural floodplain forests in Slovak part of the Danube floodplain and to introduce sound, sustainable forest management in the area. As a result, a Sustainable Forest Management Strategy has been elaborated to give a base for new forest management plans. 

The Dialogue on “Governance and Financing of water projects in Lebanon: Private Sector Participation and the role of Banks in investments” was successfully launched on 27 March 2017, representing a strategic synergy of the UfM/Sida project “Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector” and the European Union funded project “Sustainable Water Integrated Management (SWIM)-Horizon 2020 Support Mechanism”.

On 27-28 November 2014 the Global Forum on Environment: "New Perspective on the Water-Energy-Food-Nexus" was held in the OECD headquarters in Paris.