A mixture of personal and professional characteristics led Maria Angelica to a career in Civil Hydraulic Engineering: “On the personal side, a strength of character combined with a dose of rebellion and of not accepting the status-quo just because it is what it is. Professionally, something that brings a sense of strength is talent combined with a great technical capacity and professional training. With these characteristics it is less complicated to position yourself as a woman leader because it also allows you to disrupt sexist and discriminatory biases in the water sector.” In celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD2020), Maria Angelica shares her career story.

“Since childhood, I was always in awe of everything related to the development sector. I had the ambition to help the disadvantaged populations in my country and in Africa”, says Félicité Vodounhessi, Programme Officer for GWP West Africa. In celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD2020) she shares her career story on becoming a Water and Rural Equipment Engineer.

“Over the years, I have learned that the water crisis affects women and girls especially in rural areas with high vulnerability. Where there is no water, women and girls must carry heavy drums of water for kilometres, endure the hardness of the soil, and experience the insecurity to ensure their families the human right of access to drinking water and sanitation.” These are the concerns of Carmen Gonzales, Chair of GWP Nicaragua, as she shares her career story in celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD2020).

Huiping Chen is a Professor of International Law at the Xiamen University School of Law in China. She also leads the GWP China Fujian Provincial Partnership. She says that opportunity has played a key role in her successful career. In celebration of International Women's Day (IWD2020) she shares her story:

“Back in 1991, as a fresh Ph.D. holder in Environmental Biology from the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India, I never had a dearth of opportunities to work as a scientist. However, I was keen to use my skills and knowledge for practical applications for betterment of community. With this idea, I started my career as a Woman Programme Manager for watershed management with a Non-Government Organization (NGO) at Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India.” Dr Veena Khanduri, Executive Secretary-cum-Country Coordinator of India Water Partnership (GWP India) shares the story of her career journey in celebration of International Women's Day (IWD2020).

International Women’s Day (IWD) is observed on March 8th each year. It is a day dedicated to celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women across the globe.

“Water in our region – where 98% consists of desert – means much more than anywhere else. It is an interesting subject, with an interesting expert community – and it is also the subject of interest to various players. My female ancestors lived under very hard pressure, but they were leaders, and they passed this gen on to me”, says Guljamal Nurmuhamedova, Regional Coordinator for GWP Central Asia and Caucasus (CACENA). In celebration of International Women's Day (IWD2020) she shares the story of the females in her family, which shaped her own destiny: “I am part of my family”.

The Global Water Partnership Mediterranean is seeking to hire an Expert/Company to provide Filming and production of Project Results videos for GEF Drin Project (including photography) in the framework of the GEF supported Project “Enabling transboundary cooperation and integrated water resources management in the extended Drin River Basin” (GEF Drin Project).

In the lead-up to International Women’s Day 2020 (8 March), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Sida has kicked off what they refer to as a super-year for gender equality. This was announced at a seminar on 5 March at the Sida headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, under the theme “Generation Equality: Adolescents, Gender Equality and SRHR”.

IMMINENT RELAUNCH - The Global Water Partnership Mediterranean is seeking to hire an Expert/Company to provide Filming & Production of Videos for Events delivered by GWP-Med in the framework of the In the framework of Making Water Cooperation Happen in the Mediterranean’ (aka the Water Matchmaker) – project supported by Sida.