BRATISLAVA, January 15, 2018 – Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe is proud to announce that a new international initiative pairing young water advocates with policymakers has been selected for funding by the European Union's Erasmus+ program.

The contribution of the youth in bringing the much-needed development in Africa has been applauded by the Namibian Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Mr. Abraham Nehemia.

Earlier in 2017 a newly established Youth Water Community Central and Eastern Europe started a project about the reduction of plastic pollution in the river Ishmi in Albania. The project’s first activity was a workshop with local students that took place on 5 December at the Agricultural University of Tirana.

More than 140 decision makers and representatives of government, civil society, international organisations, donors, financing institutions, and the private and banking sector, came together for 3 days sharing experiences and discussing needs, challenges and next steps during the “Conference on Water Governance in MENA and wider Mediterranean region” that was held in Barcelona, on 12-14 December. The Regional Conference was organised under the auspices of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), by two UfM-labelled projects supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), namely the Governance & Financing for the Mediterranean Water Sector project led by GWP-Med, and the Regional Water Integrity Capacity Building Programme in MENA, led by SIWI UNDP Water Governance Facility. The Conference was organised in close and strategic synergy with the EU-funded Sustainable Water Integrated Management and Horizon 2020 Support Mechanism (SWIM-H2020 SM) regional project.

Establishing strong partnerships is key to delivering GWP strategy and the implementation of programmes, says Mr Alex Simalabwi Global Water Partnership Southern Africa Executive Secretary and Head Africa Coordination Unit.

India Water Partnership (IWP) facilitated a Panel Discussion on ‘Role of Women and Youth in Water Security and inclusive growth’ on 14 October 2017 at Vigyan Bhavan during 5th India Water Week 2017 held New Delhi, India.

On 29 August, Youth for Water and Climate #YWC took over the Young Professionals Booth at Stockholm World Water Week.

The investment potential in wastewater treatment and reuse in Middle East & North Africa (MENA) was discussed at a session organised by the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) during the recent World Water Week in Stockholm (27 August – 1 September 2017). This was part of the “MENA Focus” set of 4 sessions, led by key institutions in the Region.2017 was the 2nd year that a dedicated MENA Regional Focus was part of the World Water Weeks’ programme, alongside the Regional Focus Days for Africa, Asia and Latin America. In addition to the (co) organization of sessions, GWP-Med is coordinating the overall “MENA Focus”.

Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWP-SA) has entered into a partnership with Water Hygiene Convenience (WHC) to support job creation and SDG implementation on the continent.

GWP CEE collaborated with GWP Mediterranean in organising a Summer School on water in sustainable development on 9-16 July, at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. Focus was on current challenges and opportunities.