The meeting, dubbed GWP Regional Days 2022, looked at strides made so far under the 2020-2025 organizational strategy and how to move forward.
Opening the meeting, GWP Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Darío Soto-Abril said discussions by more than 200 participants who attended the meeting at GWPO headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden as well as virtually, would help them to do an introspection on what was working, and have a clear direction on how it wants to continue making an impact in the world.
“This meeting aims to advance the 3-year work programming from 2023-2025, build on learnings from the current strategy period, and discuss coherence of Regional Work Programs. We will, among others, look at how GWP is contributing to global processes in the water sector and build our next work program to influence change, generate focused impact, and increase collaboration,” explained Mr. Soto-Abril.
Mr. Darío Soto- Abril, GWP Executive Secretary and CEO
GWP's Communications global and regional teams kick-started the meetings on 22 May, with various regions sharing success stories on visibility of programs being implemented by GWP globally.
On Sunday, May 22, Communications personnel in all thirteen regions held a special session to reflect on their work, share human stories of impact, and discuss challenges in showcasing the work of projects in GWP.
On the final day of the meeting, over 130 GWP partners across the globe joined the meetings to share ideas on what could be done better in advocating for climate resilience through water, mobilizing youth for water resources management, water solutions for SDGs, innovation at GWP network, and communications for social change.
Speaking at the closing session, the GWPO Executive Secretary and CEO said the talks were insightful and would shape the future of how the organization continues to implement its work.
From what we hear in these conversations, we can definitely do more in terms of listening, connecting, communicating, sponsoring the innovations that are coming forward, and connecting with financiers. This is a good way to get into the next three years of implementing our various programs,” said Mr. Soto-Abril.
GWPO outgoing Chair, Ambassador Howard Bamsey said that change in various organizations will often times force renewal through innovation. This can be the case too with ideas that underpin the organizations and for GWPO, the idea that we have been sponsoring for the past 25 years has been integrated water resources management (IWRM). “It is natural enough that after so long, after so many changes, we should ask if IWRM is still something that remains relevant? Is it something we can continue to pursue for the next 25 years?” said Amb. Bamsey.
GWP organizes the Regional Days annually to help the organization and its partners engage on a range of issues and foster partnership in line with the organization's vision of contributing towards a water secure world.