In March 2020, CWP-Benin, and Speak Up Africa (SUA) signed a partnership agreement for a grant of approximately Three million (3,000,000) CFA francs over a period from March to August 2020. This fund is intended to carry out a plea for a better management of the sanitation issue in Benin.

To contribute to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic currently raging in Togo and around the world, the project brought some support to the Danyi Prefectoral Hospital Center to enable them to minimize the risks of spreading the disease.

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).

In response to many requests, we have decided to extend the deadline for the Water ChangeMaker Awards with one week - to 14 June 2020 by midnight CEST - to give those who have not yet finalized their submissions a chance to participate.

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.

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).