Global Water Partnership - GWP

To realise the vision of a water secure world, GWP supports countries to advance the governance and management of water resources for sustainable and equitable development. This work is guided by the principles of integrated water resources management and is fully aligned with measuring progress towards SDG 6, indicator 6.5.1: degree of implementation of IWRM. The work is applicable to all water-related SDGs and their targets, and structured according to the following chain of results.

Firstly, activities are implemented with the aim of influencing targeted stakeholders, such as national governments, regional economic development bodies, river basin organisations, and community-based organisations. Some of these actors are then instrumental in the development of key water governance outcomes. A new water policy, a national adaptation plan, a transboundary management agreement, an investment plan or strategy, strengthened legislation, a regional planning framework, and institutional reform are examples of such outcomes.

The implementation of these water governance outcomes leads to socio-economic benefits among the target populations through increased investment in appropriate infrastructure, empowerment of vulnerable groups, and more sustainable use of resources. To achieve such outcome- and impact-level results, GWP organises its work around three dimensions, as outlined in the 2020–2025 Strategy:

  1. An operational dimension: Catalysing change in policies and practice
  2. A knowledge dimension: Generating and communicating knowledge
  3. A partnering dimension: Strengthening partnerships

Some of the stories in this report describe initiatives that are at the initial stage of development, where higher-level results have yet to materialise. Others reflect contributions to processes, often supported over a number of years, that can be linked to tangible impact on the ground. The graphics applied to each story (and explained above) indicate the point along the GWP results chain (output > influence > outcome > impact) that had been reached at the end of 2021. The graphics also illustrate how GWP’s work was roughly distributed across the three dimensions (We Act, We Learn, We Mobilise) to achieve the results. For more information: Our results, influence, impact, and theory of change.