Alex Simalabwi, Executive Secretary of Global Water Partnership in Africa, host of the Technical Support Unit of the AIP, reflects on the year in water that was 2021 and outlines priorities to secure Africa’s water needs for the year ahead.
The GWP 2021 Network Meeting of Partners took place online on 1 & 2 December under the Theme “Leading Change and Innovation through our Partners”. GWP-Med was actively involved, presenting examples of success stories from its work around the Mediterranean in several Breakout Sessions.
Being innovative in the face of an ever-changing world, delivering GWP’s strategy despite the challenges of COVID, and connecting water communities across the globe – these were some of the key messages during this year’s GWP Network Meeting.
The 2021 edition of GWP's annual Network Meeting of Partners will take place online on 1-2 December, under the theme ‘Leading Change and Innovation through our Partners’.
As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many meetings, workshops, and consultations suddenly went online. In many parts of the world, in-person meetings were impossible for a long time, and only now are slowly resuming. In other parts, hybrid meetings with online presence and in-person participation are becoming the new norm. Each of these formats comes with its pros and cons. In-person meetings allow for broader and deeper discussions, while online meetings are logistically easier to manage and make it easier for more participants to join. A new publication analyzes the impact that different formats can have on the quality of the interaction in the context of multi-stakeholder consultations.
The 9th session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP9) to the UN Water Convention concluded on 1 October after a week of sessions, all serving to review and propose action towards transboundary water cooperation. GWP Executive Secretary Darío Soto-Abril was a panelist in a high-level session on the theme of 'Water and Peace'. One of his key messages was on the importance of turning challenges into opportunities.
