As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many meetings, workshops, and consultations suddenly went online. In many parts of the world, in-person meetings were impossible for a long time, and only now are slowly resuming. In other parts, hybrid meetings with online presence and in-person participation are becoming the new norm. Each of these formats comes with its pros and cons. In-person meetings allow for broader and deeper discussions, while online meetings are logistically easier to manage and make it easier for more participants to join. A new publication analyzes the impact that different formats can have on the quality of the interaction in the context of multi-stakeholder consultations.
Over six communities (approximately 4000+ people) in the Far North Region of Cameroon have been sensitized on the origin of dental fluorosis in a bid to reduce stigmatization of affected persons, especially women and girls.
The 9th session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP9) to the UN Water Convention concluded on 1 October after a week of sessions, all serving to review and propose action towards transboundary water cooperation. GWP Executive Secretary Darío Soto-Abril was a panelist in a high-level session on the theme of 'Water and Peace'. One of his key messages was on the importance of turning challenges into opportunities.
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.
Photographs of women walking down dirt roads with jugs of water on their heads – cast in roles as water carriers instead of water managers – is not yet a thing of the past. A new report launching on 16 September shows progress has been slow and the management of this vital resource is still male dominated.
How well is the world managing its water resources? To answer that question, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), with the UNEP-DHI Centre and Global Water Partnership (GWP), have analysed the responses from 186 countries to the survey instrument on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 6.5.1 – the degree of implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) – showing that the world as a whole has advanced from 49% in 2017 to 54% in 2020. While this does show definite progress, 107 countries are currently not on track to meet the target of implementing IWRM by 2030, and to reach the global goal, the current rate of implementation would need to at least double.
El viernes 10 de septiembre finalizó un curso dirigido y coordinado por Cap Net Argentina, con el acompañamiento del Foro Argentino del Agua/ GWP Argentina y de la Dirección Nacional de Gestión Ambiental del Agua y los Ecosistemas Acuáticos.
The Gender Session for the 9th Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) River Basin Organisations / Shared Watercourse Institutions (RBOs/SWIs) Workshop will be held virtually on 21 September 2021, under the theme ‘Integrating gender equality and social inclusion into water programs of the SADC RBOs/SWIs and Member States.
To support Cameroon in the implementation of its new national development strategy 2030 which aims in part to ensure food security, the Department of National Meteorology of the Ministry of Transport (MINT) and GWP-Cameroon joined forces with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to address climate vulnerabilities in the Far North Region through a practical training of farmers in Meri on the weather, climate, and agriculture from August 18th - 20th, 2021.
