The strategy was launched in Stockholm by GWP, and witnessed by H.E. Retno Marsudi , UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Water, Eva Schreiner , Head of Water Team at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and other development partners, who welcomed the strategy and called for urgent collective action to tackle the escalating global water crisis. Voices from Global Leaders |
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| | | Donors and MDBs Signal Confidence and Trust Major donor partners — Sida (Sweden), FCDO (UK), ADA (Austria), and the Netherlands — praised the strategy as timely, ambitious, and necessary, signalling strong confidence in GWP’s leadership. |
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| | | | Diplomats from 25 Countries welcome strategy, signal interest Following the launch, a High-Level Diplomatic Briefing brought together Ambassadors and representatives of 25 countries. Countries represented included: Argentina, Canada, China, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Finland, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Pakistan, Spain, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Zambia, Netherlands, Germany, Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea, and Tanzania. |
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| | The diplomatic briefing was opened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of the Netherlands, a founding Sponsoring Partner of GWPO, represented by Maarten Gischler , Senior Water Adviser, who invited other nations to consider joining GWPO as Sponsoring Partners on behalf of the organisation’s existing Sponsoring Partners. Diplomats welcomed the strategy with urgency and optimism, recognising GWPO as a credible and trusted platform to accelerate water investments. Several noted that the strategy comes at a decisive moment, when water challenges demand coordinated global leadership.
They highlighted governance as the foundation for credible investments, the need to mobilise finance at scale, blending public and private capital, water as central to climate resilience and global stability and importance of partnerships and capacity development — empowering governments, women, and youth to lead change.
Many countries expressed interest in further exploring Sponsoring Partner membership , with follow-up discussions to be pursued in capitals in the coming months. |
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| | MDBs and Regions welcome new strategy, commend GWP |
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| | | Across GWP’s global network, regions also voiced strong support: ● Sindy Mthimukhulu and Callist Tindimugaya from Southern And Eastern Africa Region: “It directly responds to Africa’s urgent challenges of water security, financing gaps, and capacity.” ● Raymond Valiant from South East Asia Region: “It speaks to our needs on climate resilience, youth, and digital transformation.” ● Fabiola Tabora from Central America Region: “It bridges global investment flows with the realities of vulnerable communities.” Oxford University Partnership Announced At the launch, GWPO and Oxford University signed an MOU to train 500 water professionals by 2030, with a focus on women and youth — a key element of the new strategy’s capacity-building agenda. |
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| | Alex Simalabwi, CEO of GWPO and Executive Secretary of GWP and Alex Money, Oxford University, signing the MoU. |
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| Scaling Up Global Investment The new strategy builds on the success of the Africa Water Investment Programme (AIP) and the Africa Water Investment Summit in Cape Town (August 2025), where more than USD 10 billion in potential investments were identified through project–investor matchmaking.
As part of scaling up this model globally, GWP will work with governments, development banks, and the private sector through the Global Investment Platform, and has been invited to support the Global Outlook Council on Water Investments, a G20 Presidential Legacy Initiative announced in Cape Town. A Global Transformation Agenda on Water Investments Alex Simalabwi , CEO of GWPO and Executive Secretary of GWP, concluded:
“This strategy is about transformation. Donor partners have united in endorsing our new direction — a strong vote of confidence that we are on the right track. Regions across Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America confirm the strategy speaks to their needs on the ground. And with 25 countries engaging at today’s diplomatic briefing, alongside the Oxford partnership, the appetite for global cooperation is clear.
We thank our donors for their steadfast support and continued trust in GWP. We remain fully committed to transparency, accountability, and fiduciary discipline. Since 2002, we have published clean, unqualified audit reports every year — and we will proudly continue this tradition as we scale up to unlock billions in water and climate investments worldwide.” |
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