A stakeholder consultation meeting was conducted on 13 February 2025 at the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS), Singha Durbar, Kathmandu to discuss with the participating institutions and prepare for the Nepal National Water and Weather Week (NNWWW) 2025
NNWWW has been a week-long program every year since 2009 from 17-23 March under the Chairmanship of WECS and The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) serves as the Secretariat for its coordination and organization. This event includes two important international days: World Water Day (22 March) and World Meteorological Day (23 March) and the program activities are planned and celebrated aligning to their respective themes of the year.
The key message of World Water Day 2025, with the UN’s theme of “Glacier Preservation” is that glaciers are melting faster than ever, and their preservation is crucial for our survival as glacial retreat threatens devastating consequences. Likewise, the theme for World Meteorological Day is “Closing the Early Warning Sign Gap Together”, which emphasizes the importance of enhancing early warning systems to safeguard people from hazardous climate events.
NNWWW serves as a platform for awareness, advocacy, research and policy discussions on water resource management, climate change and sustainable development. With the participation of stakeholders representing government, non-government, international organizations, academic, private sectors, youths, and civil society organizations working towards water and weather, NNWWW aims to promote knowledge sharing and action that helps address solutions.
Dr. Kapil Gnawali, Senior Divisional Engineer at WECS, formally greeted the attendees and emphasized the primary objective of the meeting, which was to deliberate on the planning for NNWWW 2025. Based on the consultation meeting, SEN will combine the suggested activities and share them back with all participants for their inputs and suggestions.
The participating organizations in the meeting (in alphabetical order) were: Center of Research for Environment, Energy, and Water (CREEW), Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), Department of Water Resource and Irrigation (DWRI), Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET Nepal), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Kathmandu University(KU), Nepal Development Research Institute (NDRI), National Federation of Irrigation Water Users Association Nepal (NFIWUAN), Nepal Water Conservation Foundation (NWCF), OXFAM, SmartPhones4Water- Nepal (S4W), The Small Earth Nepal (SEN), Sustainability and Environmental Studies Endeavor (SENSE), South Asia Institute of Advanced Studies (SIAS), The Society of Hydrologists and Meteorologists – Nepal (SOHAM), Tribhuvan University (TU), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Jalsrot Vikas Sanstha (JVS) and Youth Alliance For Environment (YAE).
