GWP-WA chair, Prof. Amadou Hama MAIGA and Executive Secretary, M. Armand HOUANYE made a working visit in Niamey, Niger from 9 to 13 November 2020 to inform project stakeholders, exchange with partners on the priorities and next steps in the implementation of project, discuss potential synergies to be developed in the implementation of the project and other ongoing and future initiatives in Niger and the sub-region and develop a roadmap for the strengthening of the governance of the Country Water Partnership of Niger.
On 27 October, Global Water Partnership and Wuhan International Water Law Academy organised an online engagement session based on the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security. The topic was ‘Does the world need more International Water Law?’ The event attracted approximately 100 participants. “One of the most encouraging feedback was a participant who realized ‘we don’t need to be lawyers to work with international water law.’ We tend to think that it is always lawyers who exercise the law, but the law is there to be exercised by anyone,” said GWP’s Yumiko Yasuda after the event.
The White House Action Plan on Global Water Security, launched by the Vice President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris, on 1 June 2022, presents significant opportunities for achieving climate-resilient water security in Africa where the joint World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF statistics estimates over 400 million people do not have access to clean drinking water and over 700 million live without access to good sanitation.
During the months of October and November, the National Directorate of Water (DNH) and the Country Water Partnership (CWP) of Mali carried out planned activities as part of the implementation of the SDG 6 IWRM support programme in the country.
Alex Simalabwi, Executive Secretary of Global Water Partnership in Africa, host of the Technical Support Unit of the AIP, reflects on the year in water that was 2021 and outlines priorities to secure Africa’s water needs for the year ahead.
Efforts to strengthen the operational capacity of Country Water Partnerships (CWPs) in Southern Africa continued at a virtual workshop convened by GWPSA with support by GWP Organisation on 12 November.
Picked up the theme of provision of clean and safe water for emergency response and remote areas, the third webinar from the series was held on 7 April 2022, and invited GWP-SEA partner’ FONTO DE VIVO as the resource person. The webinar focuses on the regional issue in dealing with natural disasters and the existence of a high number of remote areas, and how the innovative technology from our partner can provide a solution for these situations.
GWP China Senior TEC Advisor, Guoliang CHEN, former Chair of GWP China Fujian and member of the Standing Committee of the ninth Fujian Provincial People's Congress, donated his publication "Drink Water from The Same River - 23 Years of Water Sharing Between Fujian & Taiwan" to the Fujian-Taiwan Museum in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, late February 2022.
By the end of 2020, GWP PAN-Asia has successfully implemented the PAN-ASIA SDG Learning Exchange on Monitoring and Reporting of SDG Indicator 6.5.1 Degree of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Implementation. The report has been finalized in 2021 and therefore the network discussed the outreach Plan of the report, as well as another regional agendas.
The Global Water Partnership (GWP) Steering Committee announced the appointment of Mr Darío Soto-Abril (pictured) as GWP Executive Secretary, effective March 1, 2021. Soto-Abril joins GWP after serving as Global CEO at Fairtrade International since February 2017.