The Strengthening Drought Resilience for Smallholder Farmers and Pastoralists in the IGAD Region (DRESS-EA) project was launched online on 6 October 2020.

In the words of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” In that spirit, we are delighted to share the personal journeys from 78 Water ChangeMaker semi-finalists who have changed the world for the better.

The Lake Ohrid Watershed Management Plan was presented and discussed with representatives from all related authorities of North Macedonia marking another step towards its official adoption.

The Japanese Government, in cooperation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), launched an online platform for sustainable and resilient recovery from COVID-19. Non-state actors were invited to contribute video messages – with GWP Chair Howard Bamsey stressing that water is at the heart of climate change adaptation.

Youth from the Ghar El Melh wetland area continued their journey towards the development of their green entrepreneurship ideas into concrete actionable business plans, with the assistance of GWP-Med and WWF-North Africa.

After learning about more than 350 Water ChangeMaker stories from around the world, we are excited to share with you the list of 78 semi-finalists that have been identified by our qualified and diverse technical jury to pursue the next stage in the Awards selection process. While the possibility to submit stories was offered in six languages, a majority of the semi-finalists come to us from South Asia, South America and Central America, with wide representation from 11 other regions.

Part of a four-year USD $13,079,540 project financed by the Adaptation Fund, the Global Water Partnership Eastern Africa (GWPEA) is the regional executing entity for the Strengthening Drought Resilience for Smallholder Farmers and Pastoralists in the IGAD Region Project (DRESS-EA).