World Humanitarian Day is held every year on 19 August to pay tribute to aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, and to rally support for people affected by crises around the world.
GWP held its annual Regional Days meeting on 1-4 June. The virtual event set a record in numbers, with over 120 GWP participants worldwide. While the main purpose is to have a shared understanding of GWP priorities and approaches, one of the highlights this year was the ‘virtual signing’ of a grant agreement between GWP and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) on readiness support to the Zambia National Adaptation Plan (NAP).
Every year, all GWP Regions meet to brainstorm, share knowledge and learn about current challenges and future opportunities for the network at the annual regional days. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, this year’s regional days was held virtually for a period of four days, starting June 1st with over 100 participants at the opening plenary chaired by the outgoing Executive Secretary (ES), Monika Weber-Fahr . All regions were fully represented including GWP-CAf which was represented by the Regional Chair, Regional coordinator, as well as the Finance and Communications officers.
How can Mediterranean countries effectively address the COVID-19 emergency, without neglecting long-standing sustainable development challenges and water commitments in particular? What are the water agenda-related investment strategies that can promote climate resilience and sustainable development targets, while also helping to deal with the crisis and assist immediate recovery?
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has worked on water for food issues for over four decades, and therefore the decision to join the Water ChangeMaker Awards as a Knowledge Partner was a happy one, says Claudia Ringler, Deputy Division Director of IFPRI's Environment and Production Technology Division. According to her, all water decisions affect climate resilience in one way or another.