In December 2020, GWP welcomed six new members on its Steering Committee, adding to seven members who have served longer. The Committee acts as a Board of Directors for the GWP Network and the GWP Organisation (GWPO). The members rotate every three or six years. Now, for the first time, a Permanent Youth Seat has been added. Jamilla Sealy from Barbados is the new representative on this seat. “Being the first youth, and also being a female of African descent and from the Caribbean, which are often under-represented in the global sphere, makes it a humbling experience”, she says about her appointment.

As part of Inter-Regional and South-South Cooperation within the GWP network, Global Water Partnership South America (GWP SAM) in collaboration with Global Water Partnership, Central Africa (GWP-CAf) organized a webinar in Portuguese on November 19, 2020 to introduce the Integrated Water Resource Management – IWRM Toolbox by GWP to partners in Sao Tome and Principe in a bid to find out their IWRM learning needs and preferences.

Global Water Partnership (GWP), the African Union Developmental Agency AUDA-NEPAD, the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), and Development Bank of Southern Africa held a consultative meeting on 24th November, on the development of a water investment scorecard to track progress in mobilising water investments in Africa.

The Young Caribbean Water Entrepreneurs Shark Tank Competition is an initiative of the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) and was first launched in 2019.

Global Water Partnership (GWP)’s Africa Coordination Unit hosted the first Transboundary Water Governance Lab online event on the 18th November, with the purpose of assessing interest in the establishment of an International Water Law Community of Practice (CoP). The event was attended by alumni and partners of the Pan-African Water Governance and International Water Law, which has taken place annually since 2015.

Edit 14 December: Please note that the submission deadline for these internships has expired on 13 December 2020. Thank you to all who have applied, interviews will be set up shortly - for any questions, please reach out to us on internship@gwp.org.

Laurent-Charles Tremblay-Lévesque joined GWP as IWRM & Knowledge Management Specialist exactly one month ago. In his new role, he will develop and share tools and knowledge resources to help GWP’s Partners design and implement water-related strategies and projects aligned with the principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). To mark World Toilet Day 2020, we asked him to share an experience from his previous role within the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. He says that “toilets can help us fight climate change”.

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) Steering Committee announced the appointment of Mr Darío Soto-Abril (pictured) as GWP Executive Secretary, effective March 1, 2021. Soto-Abril joins GWP after serving as Global CEO at Fairtrade International since February 2017.

Climate change is getting worse. Floods, droughts and rising sea levels are threatening sanitation systems – from toilets to septic tanks to treatment plants. It is against this backdrop that World Toilet Day is celebrated on 19 November, raising awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. GWP celebrates the day by showcasing five Water ChangeMaker stories, providing hope that change is possible.

In Somalia, water is life - literally. It is also a country where much is happening today. The one-person-one-vote election to take place in early 2021 will be a historic milestone in the country’s road back to security, stability, and wellbeing. The economy is growing, driven by increased confidence, reforms, and bank development, and the business community is resilient, globally connected, and entrepreneurial. New opportunities for economic cooperation and integration on the Horn of Africa plays to the country’s advantage. Still, water remains a critical factor in Somalia’s development pathway. It is a water scarce country, at risk of climate related variability, and has to improve its capacity to manage water well in coming years.