On 2 February, World Wetlands Day is celebrated worldwide. The aim is to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and our planet. Wetlands and Biodiversity is the theme for 2020.
GWP West Africa held its statutory meetings in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 23 to 26 September on the theme "Accelerating progress in IWRM implementation to achieve water-related SDGs in West Africa: challenges, innovative approaches and roles of partnerships". These include the meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee on 23 September; the Steering Committee on 24 September 2019; and the Assembly of Partners (AP) on 26 September 2019. On 25 September, the regional dialogue was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Sanitation of Burkina Faso, the ECOWAS Water Resources Management Centre and the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UEMOA).
Any experience on water management is worth to be shared, says Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences of UNESCO: “Water managers need to understand the different journeys that have been taken, so that we collectively can promote sustainable water management.”
IHE Delft Institute for Water Education is one of the partners of the Water ChangeMaker Awards. We spoke with Eddy Moors, who is the Rector, and he explained the reason why they joined: “I think it's quite important that we learn from one another and I think the ChangeMakers programme and awards is offering the possibility to exchange with an even wider community than the alumni at IHE has already.”
"We're interested in the Water ChangeMaker Awards because we understand that climate resilience is an active leadership," says John Matthews, Executive Director of Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA) on the decision to partner with GWP for the Awards: “Climate resilience is something that requires bold thinking and bold actions, and we need the Water ChangeMaker Awards as a signal for aspirations, for hopes, for what positive change can really look like.”
The Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) Technical Committee (TEC) consists of Caribbean professionals selected for their experience in different disciplines in or related to Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
There were two youth associations competing to be the implementing partner of the project on the ground. Competing for this project were the "Koom La Viim" association (which means "Water is life") of Nomgana / rural municipality of Loumbila and the "Nongtaaba/Jeune La Touma" association (which means "youth is work") of Koankin in the rural municipality of Saponé.
