The speech below was given by GWPSA Chair, H.E. President Jakaya Kikwete, during the “Towards an International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa” event on 2 November 2021, held at COP26’s first ever Water Pavilion.
In line with the third principle of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) on the role of women and to promote the Gender Transformative Approach in the water and climate sector, the Cameroon Country Water Partnership (GWP-Cmr) organized a gender training for public service planners and civil society organizations from October 25th to 26th 2021 in Yaounde, Cameroon.
Back by popular demand, the Transboundary Freshwater Security Governance Train began its ‘Season 2’ in September 2021. This series of online engagement sessions follow a ‘train-like’ approach, stopping at various locations around the world and focusing on topics related to transboundary freshwater security. Each new stop explores a different topic from the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security. The Transboundary Freshwater Security Governance Train continues its journey on 16 November, with a 9th interactive session in the series. The topic for this event is water diplomacy and negotiation in international water law. It is a jointly organized by GWP and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)/International Centre for Water Cooperation (ICWC).
Water must be at the core of effective climate action, but many countries are unaware of the powerful water-related solutions that exist. To remedy this, the global water community is speaking with one voice at the upcoming UNFCCC COP 26 Climate Change Conference by hosting a joint Water Pavilion.
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many meetings, workshops, and consultations suddenly went online. In many parts of the world, in-person meetings were impossible for a long time, and only now are slowly resuming. In other parts, hybrid meetings with online presence and in-person participation are becoming the new norm. Each of these formats comes with its pros and cons. In-person meetings allow for broader and deeper discussions, while online meetings are logistically easier to manage and make it easier for more participants to join. A new publication analyzes the impact that different formats can have on the quality of the interaction in the context of multi-stakeholder consultations.
GWP-Med is leading the communication and dissemination component in this new H2020 project which aims to close the gap between science and policy in natural resources management. The REXUS project is bringing the Water-Energy-Food Nexus concept to an operational level as a tool for analysis, planning and decision-making, through an innovative integrated approach applied in 5 pilot sites across Europe and Latin America.
The 2nd Danube Floodplain (Online) Webinar was successfully held on 7 October 2021 with over 50 participants who actively engaged with questions and comments to the discussion.
The 8th Africa Water Week (AWW8) and the 6th Africa Conference on Sanitation and Hygiene (AfricaSan6) are being jointly organised this year as a virtual conference on 22-26 November. Joined together as the Africa Water and Sanitation Week (AWSW), the conference is convened by the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) in conjunction with the African Union Commission and organised with other development partners.
Cairo Water Week (CWW) is an annual event organised by the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in collaboration with national, regional and international partners, including GWP Mediterranean. The 4th edition of CWW takes place on 24-28 October under the theme “Water, Population and Global Changes: Challenges and Opportunities”. The event will be arranged in a hybrid style, with some in person sessions in Cairo, Egypt, and some online.