GWP held its annual Regional Days meeting on 1-4 June. The virtual event set a record in numbers, with over 120 GWP participants worldwide. While the main purpose is to have a shared understanding of GWP priorities and approaches, one of the highlights this year was the ‘virtual signing’ of a grant agreement between GWP and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) on readiness support to the Zambia National Adaptation Plan (NAP).

Every year, all GWP Regions meet to brainstorm, share knowledge and learn about current challenges and future opportunities for the network at the annual regional days. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, this year’s regional days was held virtually for a period of four days, starting June 1st with over 100 participants at the opening plenary chaired by the outgoing Executive Secretary (ES), Monika Weber-Fahr . All regions were fully represented including GWP-CAf which was represented by the Regional Chair, Regional coordinator, as well as the Finance and Communications officers.

GWP and the World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW) collaborate on a storytelling initiative to make the voices of youth heard on water. Reflecting on the current challenging times, with the world battling a health crisis, we asked youth how the COVID-19 outbreak has changed their daily routines in different parts of the world. This is the second instalment in the series.

As part of the ongoing initiative between GWP and the World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW) to make the voices of youth heard on water, we asked for stories on how the current COVID-19 outbreak has changed people's daily routines in different parts of the world. Here, we share 3 of the stories – more are coming soon.

Next up in our series of partners speaking about why their communities should submit their change journeys to the Water ChangeMaker Awards, we have two youth organisations. In an energetic and interactive Facebook Live, we spoke with Lindsey Aldaco-Manner, President of the World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW), as well as Maitreyi Koduganti Venkata, Coordinator of the Water Governance Group at the Water Youth Network (WYN).

For the second part in our series of partners speaking about why their communities should submit their change journeys to the Water ChangeMaker Awards, we spoke with WaterAid’s Dr Virginia Newton-Lewis, Director of Policy and Advocacy at WaterAid Sweden, highlighting the role of the WASH community.

Edit 27 April: Please note that the application deadline for the GWP summer internships was 26 April (the below text is the original call), therefore we are no longer accepting submissions - shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Thank you to everybody who applied!

“My journey in the water and development sector began through a simple internship for a small China-based NGO named Thirst”, says Alex Whitebrook, Fundraising Team Manager of Geneva-based NGO Water Inception and Focal Point Oceania for the World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW). Whilst studying international relations in Shanghai, Alex took on a role with Thirst to teach high-school students about China’s water challenges. One thing led to another, and now, as part of the GWP-WYPW youth storytelling initiative, Alex looks back and shares the story of his first on-the-ground experience, which took place in a tiny village in Mexico.

April 6, 2020 – As of today, the Water ChangeMaker Awards is inviting submissions from those who have shaped water decisions that have helped build climate resilience. Submissions close on 7 June 2020.

On 22 March 2020 (World Water Day) GWP and Partners launched the ChangeMakers Award - a global competition that celebrates transformative changes towards a water secure world.