The Asia-Pacific Water Summit, also known as the 4th APWS, will be held on April 23-24, 2022, in Kumamoto City, Japan. The event brings together high-level delegates from the Asia-Pacific region, including heads of state and representatives from international organizations, to discuss a variety of water-related issues. GWP will actively participate in the conference, providing insights on water and its relation to youth, gender, climate, governance, finance, and the SDGs.
The 4th APWS will also share with the world Kumamoto's long-standing efforts in groundwater conservation as well as its recovery efforts from the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquakes.
GWP at the Summit
The outcomes of the 4th APWS discussions on how to implement the recommendations given in the Yangon Declaration are expected to make a significant contribution to guiding the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals under the theme of "Water for Sustainable Development – Best Practices and the Next Generation." (SDGs). GWP will take part in the following sessions:
23 April
From 15:10 to 16:40, GWP co-organises the event "Water and Environment from Source to Sea" (Japan Standard Time, JST). Howard Bamsey, GWP's Chair, will open the event. Ying Li from Yangtze Water Partnership MSP Project Group will be presenting its work on “Multi-stakeholder approach to plastic pollution from Source to Sea over the Yangtze”.
At 15:40-17:10 (JST), GWP will co-host the event "Water & Disaster/ Climate Change" which will feature Yumiko Yasuda (GWP Transboundary lead) on a panel.
At 17:30-19:00 (JST), "Youth: Meaningful Youth Engagement - Creating intergenerational partnerships for sustainable outcomes". Tharika Fernando, (Youth for Water and Climate) will be a speaker. The event is moderated by Rianna Gonzales of GWP.
GWP co-organises the event "Water, Poverty/Gender" at 17:30-19:00 (JST). Kusum Athukorala (GWP South Asia), Veena Khanduri (GWP India), Elfithri Rahmah (GWP Southeast Asia), and Guljamal Nurmuhammedova (GWP Caucasus and Central Asia) will speak. GWP's Liza Debevec will moderate the event.
24 April
At 11:00-12:30 (JST), "Water, Culture, and Peace" will be held. Howard Bamsey, GWP's Chair, will open the event, and Yumiko Yasuda will participate on a panel.
GWP co-organises the "Integrated session 2: Governance" from 14:00 to 15:30 (JST). Howard Bamsey will address the audience and Fany Wedahuditama (GWP Southeast Asia) will participate on a panel. Bibi Zarina binti Che Omar (Vice chair of Steering Committee, GWP Malaysia), and Santosh Kumar (Honorary member of GWP India) will also be speakers. Yumiko Yasuda will be moderating the panel discussion.
GWP will take part in the "Integrated session 3: Finance" from 14:00 to 15:30 (JST). Chris Illagan (Chair of GWP Philippines and member of the GWP Global Steering Committee) will speak.
From 16:00 to 17:30 (JST) "SDG and Post Covid." Howard Bamsey will report on the Governance session.