Participants of the workshop, August 25, 2022, ©UNESCO\c.suos

The ecohydrology demonstration site of Paltas Catacocha in Ecuador seeks to recover the ancestral water system of Los Paltas to improve water management.

Promoting intergenerational solidarity: young people in Latin America and the Caribbean building a more resilient region.

Le Ministère de l’Education Nationale via sa Cellule d'Appui à la Décentralisation/Déconcentration de l’Éducation, en partenariat avec l’UNESCO à travers le programme O3, a organisé un atelier de formation de 230 membres (dont 46% de femmes) de Comités de Gestion Scolaire, d’Associations de Parents d’Elèves et d’Associations de Mères d’Elèves sur l’ESBE à Ségou du 23 au 26 août 2022. L’atelier a pour objectif de renforcer les capacités d’un vivier de membres des réseaux d’associations scolaires (CGS, AME, APE) sur la prévention contre les grossesses précoces et non désirées, le VIH et le Sida et les Violences Basées sur le Genre en milieu scolaire dans un contexte décentralisé. La stratégie vise à disposer d’un vivier de compétences locales capable d’orienter les autres membres des réseaux associatifs, en vue de pérenniser les actions d’accompagnement de l’UNESCO en matière d’Education à la Santé et au Bien-Etre.      

As part of the 'Multi-stakeholder Call for Action' Initiative led by the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), the online session: 'Global multi-stakeholder action to accelerate gender equality in water' took place on 24 August at the World Water Week 2022. Since its launch in 2021, the Multi-stakeholder Coalition has continuously grown as Ms. Michela Miletto, WWAP Director and Coordinator underlined: at present, the Call for Action is supported by more than 150 members, from 60 institutions - 14 Member States, 3 regional organizations, financial institutions, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, academia, UNESCO Chairs, and individual specialists. The session was introduced by Abou Amani, Director of the Division of Water Sciences of UNESCO, who highlighted that the Call for Action has been recognized in several international declarations such as of the IHP Inter-Governmental Council (December 2020), the 2° Asia International Water Week (Asia to World Parliamentarian Statement) (March 2022), the Dushanbe 2° Water Conference (Final Declaration) (June 2022), and the UN High-Level Political Forum (July 2022). Scope of the session was to report on the progress made by the Multi-stakeholder Coalition members in the field towards accelerating gender equality in the water domain. Accordingly, the results of a survey among the Multi-stakeholder Coalition with respect to their actions in the field were reported, showing members to be most active in fostering women’s leadership and narrowing the gap between policy and practice. Significant efforts in advocacy and outreach measures were reported. In light of this, various members of the Multi-stakeholder Coalition took the floor showcasing examples of best practices in ‘water and gender equality’ being implemented in different regions of the world. The session was also an opportunity to introduce new members to the Coalition and present their activities on the ground, as well as to discuss the centrality of human rights and gender equality within the goal of sustainable water management. This session marked an important milestone in the Call for Action’s roadmap, which will continue to showcase concrete actions at the UNESCO Groundwater Summit 2022 in Paris and the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York. Watch the online event Call for Action to Accelerate Gender Equality in the Water Domain

Groundwater, which sustains drinking water supplies, sanitation systems, farms, industries and ecosystems, is being overused, polluted and neglected, speakers warned at an online World Water Week event on Thursday, 25 August. “It is our duty to ensure groundwater has its rightful place in all of our action plans” said Gilbert F. Houngbo, Chair of UN-Water, in his video message to the online session, titled “Groundwater: Making the invisible visible.” This is also the title of the last United Nations World Water Development Report 2022 (WWDR), published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water at the World Water Forum in Dakar, last March. The Report highlights that groundwater accounts for 99 per cent of all liquid freshwater on Earth. However, this natural resource is poorly understood and consequently undervalued and mismanaged. 2022 edition of the WWDR covers issues that are relevant to groundwater across a wide spectrum, starting with legal and institutional aspects, groundwater use in major sectors, the link between groundwater and ecosystems, key role of groundwater in adapting to climate change, the knowledge base on this valuable resource, policy, planning and management aspects, transboundary dimension, financing and finally regional perspectives. This event offered the opportunity to present some key findings of the Report by the authors of selected chapters related to the use of groundwater in human settlements, its role in adapting to climate change, and in accelerating food production. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation also participated in the session to talk about the groundwater from a human rights perspective. The discussion was followed by a moderated panel discussion to highlight the role of groundwater in Africa, the importance of groundwater monitoring,  humanitarian dimension vis-à-vis migration and refugees, gender considerations and legal and institutional aspects.   Watch the online event Download the UN World Water Development Report 2022

Through a workshop dedicated to the analysis and promotion of women's creative and cultural work through public management, UNESCO strengthened Panama's capacities to address the creative economy with a gender approach.