Youth are not just the future; they are also the present! Young people of the Caribbean are a powerful force that can ignite positive change and bring visibility to the challenges that affect us collectively.

Global Water Partnership Caribbean (GWP-C) in coordination with the National Council for Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism of the Dominican Republic (CNCCMDL) and funded by the NDC Partnership, are developing a portfolio of bankable investments to finance climate change projects in the Dominican Republic (DR). The consultancy is being carried out by the company Viridia Projects.

For the first time since the establishment of the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) in 2004, Belize has now become an official Partner country of the GWP-C. It is well-known that Belize is a country based in Central America but has maintained strong ties to the Caribbean, as part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Mainly due to the country’s geographical location, it fell under the GWP Central America Partnership.

The GWP Steering Committee members appointed Ms. Jamilla Sealy as Vice-Chair of the committee with immediate effect. Sealy, who joined the committee in December 2020, also holds the first-ever permanent youth seat.

In 2020 with the onset of the global COVID-19 Pandemic, the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) was motivated to find a novel and creative way of educating Caribbean kids about the critical value of water, the various water issues that occur throughout the Caribbean region and how they could be empowered to become Water ChangeMakers.

Water is intimately connected to the way of life in the Caribbean – reaching across environment, economy, social well-being, systems of governance, rights and dignity. Furthermore, ensuring that everyone has access to sustainable water and sanitation services, is a critical climate change mitigation strategy for the future.

In 2020, the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) began supporting the Government of the Dominican Republic (DR) to develop estimates of increased risk of flooding and landslides due to rainfall projections under climate change scenarios. This technical study was completed in the last quarter of 2020. It is one of a series of activities and outputs by GWP-C to inform the preparation of the country’s submission for the second round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and is part of the Climate Action Enhancement Package (CAEP) from the NDC Partnership.