IAWD is proud and excited to announce a cooperation with UN-Habitat/GWOPA, the Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance. Networking and capacity-building to improve the performance of water operators is the goal we share, GWOPA takes a proven peer-support partnership approach, and we will therefore gladly promote this concept in the Danube region.

Responding to an open call for expression of interest, IAWD has recently applied to shoulder the task of establishing a WOP - Water Operator Partnership - platform for South East Europe. We can now report that our application has been successful. Activities will resume shortly.

GWOPA is an international network, created in 2009, to support water operators through peer support exchanges between two or more water operators, called WOPs or Water Operator Partnerships. The objective of WOPs is capacity strengthening, performance improvement, and generally helping to bring better services to more people, on a not-for-profit basis.

In the light of the challenges for the water sector in general, and for many utilities in our region in particular, the importance of this initiative is obvious, and the strategic approach of GWOPA is quite promising: WOP peer-support partnerships aim at harnessing the skills, knowledge and goodwill within a strong utility to build the capacity and improve the performance of a partner utility that will profit from assistance and guidance.

The WOP concept has already proven its potential in over 370 WOP partnerships worldwide. Today, GWOPA is a network of nearly 150 institutional members and partners and more than 1400 individual members, including mostly public and private utilities and utility associations, but also donors and civil society, different levels of government, unions and knowledge institutions.

Sharing GWOPA's objectives, and offering both a thriving regional network and rich capacity building experience, IAWD is the obvious partner of choice for establishing a WOP South East Europe platform. Our members and friends will have more than one opportunity to learn more about the WOP concept, both online and in person.

One of the events will be held at this year's Danube Forum, as a special session during the UBP Danube Hub Workshop. The official launch of the WOP SEE is scheduled during the Balkans Joint Conference, November 2024 in Prishtina, in the terrotory of Kosovo.

Early birds are cordially invited to join GWOPA here and now – just follow the link below and apply for a cost-free membership!