GWP at the Summit
The outcomes of the 4th APWS discussions on how to implement the recommendations given in the Yangon Declaration are expected to make a significant contribution to guiding the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals under the theme of "Water for Sustainable Development – Best Practices and the Next Generation." (SDGs). GWP will take part in the following sessions:
1) 23 April
From 15:10 to 16:40, GWP co-organised the event "Water and Environment from Source to Sea" (Japan Standard Time, JST). Howard Bamsey, GWP's Chair, opened the event. Ying Li from Yangtze Water Partnership MSP Project Group presented its work on the “Multi-stakeholder approach to plastic pollution from Source to Sea over the Yangtze”.
At 15:40-17:10 (JST), GWP co-hosted the event "Water & Disaster/ Climate Change" which featured Yumiko Yasuda (GWP Transboundary lead) on a panel.
At 17:30-19:00 (JST), "Youth: Meaningful Youth Engagement - Creating intergenerational partnerships for sustainable outcomes". Tharika Fernando, (Youth for Water and Climate) was a speaker. The event was moderated by Rianna Gonzales of GWP.
GWP co-organised the event "Water, Poverty/Gender" at 17:30-19:00 (JST). Kusum Athukorala (GWP South Asia), Veena Khanduri (GWP India), Elfithri Rahmah (GWP Southeast Asia), and Guljamal Nurmuhammedova (GWP Caucasus and Central Asia) became the resource persons.GWP's Liza Debevec moderated the event.
2) 24 April
At 11:00-12:30 (JST), "Water, Culture, and Peace" was held. Howard Bamsey, GWP's Chair, opened the event, and Yumiko Yasuda participated on a panel.
GWP co-organised the "Integrated session 2: Governance" from 14:00 to 15:30 (JST). Howard Bamsey addressed the audience with keynote speech and Fany Wedahuditama (GWP Southeast Asia) participated on a panel. Bibi Zarina binti Che Omar (Vice chair of Steering Committee, GWP Malaysia), and Santosh Kumar (Honorary member of GWP India) also took part as the speakers. Yumiko Yasuda moderated the panel discussion.
GWP took part in the "Integrated session 3: Finance" from 14:00 to 15:30 (JST). Chris Illagan (Chair of GWP Philippines and member of the GWP Global Steering Committee) became the resource person.
From 16:00 to 17:30 (JST) "SDG and Post Covid." Howard Bamsey reported on the Governance session.
Key message During the Integrated session 2: Governance
Howard Bamsey delivered a message that most countries are unlikely to reach the SDG by 2030 if a business-as-usual approach continues. He suggested the leaders take ownership, recognized the interlinkages, and forge cooperation. He also suggested enhancing water cooperation in transboundary basins to maintain peace and prosperity; adopting multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder approaches, and improving dialogues and peer-to-peer exchanges to advance water governance in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Mr. Fany Wedahuditama, GWP-SEA Regional Coordinator
During the panel session, GWP-SEA’s Regional Coordinator, Mr Fany Wedahuditama presented an overview of the Integrated Water Security Open Program (IWSOP). He emphasised that the program is the long-awaited answer to prevent us from working in silos. The program provides an engagement mechanism and can motivate stakeholders to align their projects and fill the void where a water project has not been made. (AW)