Lilongwe, Malawi, March 14, 2024 – Leaders from seven African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries including high-level delegates from UNICEF, the British High Commission in Malawi and the Global Water Partnership are meeting in Lilongwe, Malawi, to assess efforts made in the seven countries towards building more climate-resilient water services under the multi-partner Global Water Leadership (GWL) Programme.
Mr Nanda Abeywickrama, (former Secretary, Ministry of Lands and Land Development (1978-88) and Director, International Co-operation (1988-94) also worked as a Special Adviser to the Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) from 1997 to 2005. In 1998, Mr Abeywickrama’s name was recommended by the then Director General, IWMI and appointed as a founding member of the Global Water Partnership Technical Advisory Committee for South Asia (SASTAC). Later, he held the position of Regional Chair of GWP South Asia (GWP SAS) from 2005 when the SAS Secretariat was moved to Sri Lanka under the hosting agreement with IWMI. He served as the Chair, GWP SAS from 2005-06 and weaned away from work gradually. Currently, Mr Abeywickrama is in his retirement living with his beloved wife in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The 2023 International Women’s Day (IWD) theme is “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality.” IWD is a Day that the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) values, as it provides one of many opportunities to celebrate the achievements of women in its network and to empower women and girls.
The installation of the innovative 'Zero Drop water cooler' marks the completion of GWP-Med's Zero Drop program in Folegandros, which boosted the island's water supply by an additional 42.000.000 litres of water annually.
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) face greater challenges in ensuring water security for all and by all. Although LAC is a water-abundant region, water is not easily and equally available to all citizens and users. Water in the region is often found in rural and natural areas, while the most populated urban areas report water stress levels above 80% for periods ranging from 3 to 12 months per year.
