On 1 July 2020, an Online Consultation Meeting is being held on the Wastewater Management Decision Support Tool (WEMDST), a Pilot project in the Frame of the GEF Drin Project.

Over 350 individuals and groups from over 80 countries submitted their personal experience of having influenced water decisions to build climate resilience by the Water ChangeMaker Awards deadline, June 14. Thank you to all the ChangeMakers who shared their stories and to the ChangeMaker Partners who helped mobilise and spread the word. We now enter the next phase of the Awards: the screening and the judging.

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).

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.

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.

"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.”

We work very closely as knowledge brokers with policy and decision-makers to walk the journey with them of implementing climate action, says CDKN Director Dr Shehnaaz Moosa: “When the Water ChangeMaker Awards came up, it seemed like an automatic fit for CDKN to be a knowledge partner”.

The connection between water and climate is undeniable, says Gabriel Eckstein, President of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA): "Without one, we cannot have the other. This is why we joined as a Partner with the Water ChangeMaker Awards - to bring closer the knowledge and expertise and voices of members and partners to the international water and development communities that are making decisions, moving to action and inspiring others."

To strengthen journalists understanding of water security and climate resilience for effective communication with stakeholders, the Central Africa Republic Country Water Partnership (PNE-RCA), with the technical and financial support of the GWP Central Africa (GWP-CAF) and UNICEF, organized a two day capacity building workshop for media professionals in Bangui in December 2019. The participants at the workshop expressed their gratitude for the initiative and committed to contribute to the sensitization of stakeholders on water security and climate resilience. They also made a series of recommendations to key stakeholders, on enhancing water security and climate resilience. Steps have since been taken by PNE-RCA to implement the recommendations made towards the establishment of a network of water and climate journalists, and plans have been made to sustain it through subsequent capacity building workshops.

IHE Delft Institute for Water Education is one of the partners of the Water ChangeMaker Awards. We spoke with Eddy Moors, who is the Rector, and he explained the reason why they joined: “I think it's quite important that we learn from one another and I think the ChangeMakers programme and awards is offering the possibility to exchange with an even wider community than the alumni at IHE has already.”