For the first time, GWP-Central Africa (GWP-CAf) shared experience from the region during the Gender and Social inclusion across the water-food-climate nexus session of the first-ever Water pavilion of this year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26).

In line with the third principle of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) on the role of women and to promote the Gender Transformative Approach in the water and climate sector, the Cameroon Country Water Partnership (GWP-Cmr) organized a gender training for public service planners and civil society organizations from October 25th to 26th 2021 in Yaounde, Cameroon.

An online Workshop on “Gender Equality (GE) for Sustainable Development in Nexus sectors in Drin Riparians” took place on 12 October 2021 with the participation of around 55 representatives from different gender related institutions and nexus related sectors, gender focal points, civil society, academia, women empowerment activists and experts from Albania, Kosovo* and North Macedonia. Its overall purpose was to bring these actors together to discuss challenges and opportunities for promoting gender equality as a driver for sustainable development in Drin Riparians.

A new online course on Gender and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) opens on 15 October. It is available on the Cap-Net virtual campus and has been developed in partnership with GWP and Gender and Water Alliance (GWA). The course aims to improve practitioners’ understanding of the benefits of integrating gender meaningfully in water resources management.

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.