It’s been called the African COP, the Adaptation COP, the Implementation COP, the Solutions COP, and the Development COP. Clearly, there is a lot riding on the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) this 6–18 November. It marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention’s adoption, but also a new and difficult phase in global climate action.
Droughts are a major challenge facing several parts of the world. GWP is working with many partners to provide knowledge that countries can act on in response to these crises.
One of the main stepping stones toward the United Nations 2023 Water Conference – the first UN conference dedicated to water in over 45 years – is the 2nd High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development”, to be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 6-9 June 2022.
For the last three years (2020-2022), GWP and Cap-Net UNDP, with the support of UNEP and UNDP and under the guidance of UNEP-DHI, have implemented a pilot project to help countries protect and restore freshwater ecosystems, with a focus on increasing awareness of environmental data available, capacity development, and action planning through multi-stakeholder engagement.
On March 31, 2023, GWP China and the Shenzhen Dapeng New Area Administration signed MoU to set up the Marine Professional Committee of GWP China in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
The Executive Committee of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) has formally noted and welcomed the nomination of His Excellency Dr. Hage Gottfried Geingob, the President of the Republic of Namibia, and the current host country of the Presidency of AMCOW as Co-Chair of the International High-Level Panel on Water Investments for Africa.
The Fourth World Irrigation Forum (WIF4), together with the 74th International Executive Council (IEC) Meeting, jointly hosted by ICID, the Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China, and the Chinese National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (CNCID), and organised by the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, will be held 16-22 April 2023 in Beijing, China.
Water projects are six times more efficient when women are part of the team. Yet there are still massive gaps in the employment of women in the water sector, particularly for jobs that are onsite or require a strong science background. On 22 September, GWP collaborated with Community of Women in Water (CWiW) and World Bank Equal Aqua on a virtual event that discussed how to support women to join and thrive in the water sector.
Communities of Practice (CoPs) are social learning vehicles that allow us to move towards adaptative and integrated water resources management. Together with its 3000+ partners, GWP is co-convening 20+ CoPs on a variety of topics including, transboundary management, river restauration, nature-based solutions, drought management, and more.