How can Mediterranean countries effectively address the COVID-19 emergency, without neglecting long-standing sustainable development challenges and water commitments in particular? What are the water agenda-related investment strategies that can promote climate resilience and sustainable development targets, while also helping to deal with the crisis and assist immediate recovery?

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has worked on water for food issues for over four decades, and therefore the decision to join the Water ChangeMaker Awards as a Knowledge Partner was a happy one, says Claudia Ringler, Deputy Division Director of IFPRI's Environment and Production Technology Division. According to her, all water decisions affect climate resilience in one way or another.

On June 2, 2020, close to World Environment Day, was the launch of the Lishui River Basin Development Project held in Lishui Town, Foshan City, Guangdong Province. Vice chair of GWP China, Wang Hao, delivered a speech and introduced a new water management concept.

The Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) is delighted to welcome Ms. Persis Ramírez Ramos to its team, as Programme Officer under the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Partnership in the Dominican Republic (DR).

IHE Delft has held the 6th edition of the International Symposium on Knowledge and Capacity Development for the Water Sector. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the symposium – “From Capacity Development to Implementation Science” – was held online on 26-29 May, with around 500 participants from around the world. GWP is a Partner of the Symposium and hosted a session on ‘Reaching and engaging local communities.’ Recommendations from all sessions were fed into the Delft Agenda, finalised at the end of June and launched on 20 July.

Any experience on water management is worth to be shared, says Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences of UNESCO: “Water managers need to understand the different journeys that have been taken, so that we collectively can promote sustainable water management.”

The Global Water Partnership Mediterranean GEF/UNDP/GWP-Med project 'Enabling transboundary cooperation and integrated water resources management in the extended Drin River Basin' (GEF Drin Project) endeavors to raise public awareness on natural wealth and cultural heritage of the Drin River Basin through the celebration of Drin Day 2020.

"We're interested in the Water ChangeMaker Awards because we understand that climate resilience is an active leadership," says John Matthews, Executive Director of Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA) on the decision to partner with GWP for the Awards: “Climate resilience is something that requires bold thinking and bold actions, and we need the Water ChangeMaker Awards as a signal for aspirations, for hopes, for what positive change can really look like.”

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional water sector programme is driven through the five-year Regional Strategic Action Plans (RSAPs) for the sector, and is currently implementing the 4th version of (RSAP IV). For the water sector, the RSAPs serve both as a coordinating philosophy and a vehicle to deliver on the aspirations of SADC as articulated in the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), Regional Infrastructure Master Plan (RIDMP) and other regional and sectoral policies and strategies.