In February, Alex Simalabwi, CEO of the Global Water Partnership Organisation (GWPO) and Executive Secretary of GWP, introduced the Global Transformation Agenda on Water Investments to GWPO’s founding Sponsoring Partners and other key stakeholders during a series of high-level consultations in Stockholm.
These engagements aimed to strengthen political momentum and broaden support for the Transformation Agenda, including the mobilisation of High-Level Panels on Water Investments across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America & the Caribbean, and Europe.
During his visit, Simalabwi met with Ambassadors from Tunisia, Pakistan, Chile, Uzbekistan, Brazil, South Africa, Hungary, and representatives from Sweden — all of whom expressed strong support for the Transformation Agenda. In March, these discussions continued with other countries and institutions playing pivotal roles in advancing climate-resilient water investments.
The consultations included several of GWPO’s founding Sponsoring Partners:
Pakistan, represented by H.E. Bilal Hayee, Ambassador to Sweden, who welcomed the Transformation Agenda as an opportunity to drive regional leadership in Asia-Pacific.
Chile, where H.E. Tucapel Jiménez Fuentes, Ambassador to Sweden, and Mr. Iván Vejar, Deputy Head of Mission, expressed support for launching a High-Level Panel for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Hungary, represented by Ambassador Adrien Muller to Sweden, who affirmed Hungary’s readiness to scale up its partnership with GWP.
The Netherlands, where Simalabwi met Mr Maarten Gischler and Ms Brechtje Paardekooper. from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Dutch team welcomed the Transformation Agenda as an opportunity to accelerate climate-resilient water investments and expressed appreciation for continued collaboration.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), where Simalabwi met Secretary-General Ms Celeste Saulo and her team to discuss strengthening ongoing collaboration on integrated drought and flood management, and scaling up climate-resilient water investments.
Sweden, where support for the Transformation Agenda was expressed.
In addition, he met with Ambassadors from G20 countries:
South Africa, where H.E. Zenani Mandela Dlamini, Ambassador to Sweden, welcomed GWPO’s decentralisation and establishment of the Transition Office in South Africa, and expressed strong support for the upcoming AU-AIP Water Investment Summit.
Brazil, where H.E. Maria Edileuza Fontenele, Ambassador to Sweden, expressed full support for the Transformation Agenda, noting its alignment with Brazil’s inclusive development priorities ahead of COP30.
Other key engagements included:
Uzbekistan, represented by H.E. Rakhmatulla Nurimbetov, Ambassador to Sweden, who discussed Uzbekistan’s water management priorities, including efforts to save the Aral Sea, and welcomed the Transformation Agenda as support for regional cooperation on climate-resilient water investments.
Tunisia, where Mr Slah Zouaghi, Chargé d’Affaires in Sweden, discussed national priorities and building on GWP’s ongoing AU-AIP Green Climate Fund Readiness Support Initiative.
Meike van Ginneken, Dutch Special Envoy for Water, who met with Simalabwi in London and welcomed the Transformation Agenda, including plans for a Global Outlook Council on Water Investment and decentralised Technical Support Hubs. They also discussed support for the upcoming AU-AIP Water Investment Summit.
UN-Water, represented by Federico Properzi, Chief Technical Advisor, who expressed appreciation for GWP’s long-standing collaboration and looked forward to strengthening the partnership through the Innovation Task Force, while scaling up efforts to enable innovation in mobilising and deploying climate-resilient water investments.
These discussions represent an important step in mobilising high-level political engagement to advance climate-resilient water investments globally.
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Photo at the top: Alex Simalabwia and the WMO team in Geneva