Submission are now open for the Water ChangeMaker Awards - a new initiative that seeks to highlight experiences in the way water decisions have built climate resilience.
13 October marks the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction. The day is centered around the seven targets of the Sendai Framework, and this year focuses on Target D: reduce disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services. According to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) floods are the most common natural disaster with the largest impacts on society. GWP Senior Network Specialist Frederik Pischke says that there are great published insights that can help those in need to build resilience – online HelpDesks on flood & drought management offer practical support.
Building climate resilience by changing water decisions!
We are launching the Water ChangeMaker Awards 2020 at an extraordinary time. The world is in a global health crisis and the economic future of many people is at risk. Both need the full attention of governments, businesses, and citizens around the world.
Over 350 individuals and groups from over 80 countries submitted their personal experience of having influenced water decisions to build climate resilience by the Water ChangeMaker Awards deadline, June 14. Thank you to all the ChangeMakers who shared their stories and to the ChangeMaker Partners who helped mobilise and spread the word. We now enter the next phase of the Awards: the screening and the judging.
Laurent-Charles Tremblay-Lévesque joined GWP as IWRM & Knowledge Management Specialist exactly one month ago. In his new role, he will develop and share tools and knowledge resources to help GWP’s Partners design and implement water-related strategies and projects aligned with the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). To mark World Toilet Day 2020, we asked him to share an experience from his previous role within the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. He says that “toilets can help us fight climate change”.
Interview with Micaela Trimble, Coordinator of Research and Cooperation, SARAS. She is also currently responsible for two research projects related to water governance. The interview is also available in Spanish.
For the second part in our series of partners speaking about why their communities should submit their change journeys to the Water ChangeMaker Awards, we spoke with WaterAid’s Dr Virginia Newton-Lewis, Director of Policy and Advocacy at WaterAid Sweden, highlighting the role of the WASH community.