Over 60 Projects Posted on New “Water Action Hub”

(New York, 15 November 2012) — The UN Global Compact Office today announced that 63 projects have been posted on the CEO Water Mandate’s “Water Action Hub” since it was launched in August 2012 — surpassing internal expectations and reinforcing the need for an international platform to showcase water stewardship initiatives and “match-make” organizations on collective-action projects within specific river basins.

The projects span virtually all continents and are being led by or involve a range of stakeholders — including corporations, civil society organizations, and public authorities. The projects focus on issues as diverse as improving water governance within a specific watershed; restoring ecosystems; improving access to water and sanitation within a community; and raising awareness on the importance of water conservation. The projects encompass numerous river basins around the world, including the Colorado; Amazon; Orange-Senqu; and Yangtze.

“We are extremely encouraged that the Water Action Hub is generating so much interest in just its initial launch phase”, said Gavin Power, Deputy Director of the UN Global Compact and Head of the CEO Water Mandate. “Our hope is that more and more stakeholders around the world will utilize the Hub and invite other organizations to engage with them on meaningful, high-impact projects and initiatives in river basins where needs are the greatest”.

The Water Action Hub was developed by the CEO Water Mandate in partnership with the Pacific Institute; GIZ; the International Business Leaders Forum; and Deloitte.

“The primary purpose of the Hub is to provide an enabling platform that assists stakeholders in efficiently identifying potential collaborators and engaging with them in water-related collective action projects”, said Jason Morrison, Program Director of the Pacific Institute and Technical Director of the CEO Water Mandate. “The concept of ‘water stewardship’ encompasses the idea that global water challenges demand collective action — the Hub was created to help respond to this imperative”.

The Water Action Hub employs map-based analytics in order to site specific projects and to provide detail on individual river basins. The Hub is organized around 12 major water-related action areas, including climate change adaptation; efficient water use; improved water governance; and sustainable agriculture. The Hub is designed as a public good and is therefore open to any organization interested in action-oriented projects designed to advance water sustainability objectives.

Contacts

Gavin Power
Deputy Director
UN Global Compact
powerg@un.org

Jason Morrison
Program Director
Pacific Institute
jmorrison@pacinst.org

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CEO Water Mandate Secretariat
The CEO Water Mandate is a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General and the UN Global Compact, implemented in partnership with the Pacific Institute. These key partners work together as the CEO Water Mandate Secretariat. The Mandate Secretariat supports the initiative’s mission in many ways, including: 1) developing research, guidance, and tools that advance corporate water stewardship; 2) convening multi-stakeholder events to identify, explore, and solve key water challenges; 3) facilitating meaningful collective action to improve conditions in at-risk river basins.