Issue Date: 19 July 2024
Deadline: 15 August 2024

1. About the GWOPA Steering Committee (SC)

The GWOPA Steering Committee (SC) is an elected body that provides strategic guidance to the GWOPA Secretariat. It helps define direction, review progress and work plans, and provide critical feedback on implementation to ensure GWOPA continues to reflect the views of its member stakeholder groups.

Steering Committee members act as focal points and advocates for GWOPA within their respective regions and communities of practice. The members of their constituency elect them for a four-year mandate. Elections are staggered to ensure some continuity in the work of the Steering Committee. Only the institutional members of GWOPA are eligible. Organizations, not individuals, make applications. The representatives of the applicant organizations must be endorsed by their organizations.

GWOPA’s current Steering Committee is comprised of a fixed number of representatives from the following stakeholder categories: public water operators or associations representing different regions, development partners, civil society organizations, labour unions and private operators, international multi-stakeholders organizations or networks, Development Cooperation agencies, Development Finance Institutions, national and sub-national governments, research and learning institutions, regulators, asset holding companies. Current donors to GWOPA also have a seat on the SC.

The composition of the Steering Committee, which the UN-Habitat Executive Director chairs, reflects the geographical and institutional diversity of the Alliance as established in GWOPA’s charter.

The Steering Committee (SC) is one of the governing bodies of the Alliance with the following objectives:

• To represent the diversity of stakeholders and geographical contexts.
• To create a steering body which could provide strategic orientation recommendations to the Secretariat by conveying the needs and views of the different constituencies.
• To amplify the role and mandate of the UN-Habitat GWOPA Secretariat.
• To embody the nature of GWOPA as an Alliance.
• Adopts recommendations, resolutions, reports, and other decisions about the work of GWOPA in an advisory capacity.
• Establishes committees or task forces, including the Integrity and Election committees.

2. Elections of new Steering Committee members

The following seats are available for elections to the GWOPA Steering Committee. Elections are open exclusively in these constituencies.

3. Eligibility

• Only the institutional members of GWOPA are eligible to be candidates for a seat under their corresponding constituency.
• If your organization or institution is not a GWOPA member, please submit the institutional membership application no later than 15 August 2024 before the candidature.
• The candidate must be endorsed by their institution or organization. An endorsement letter must be attached before submitting your application.
• Candidates will be notified about their eligibility one week after submission. The list of eligible candidates will be published on GWOPA’s website and circulated to GWOPA members and partners.

4. Application

Candidates must submit applications through the membership application form by the deadline of 15 August 2024.

As a global alliance, we encourage applications from all countries. Women are underrepresented in the GWOPA Alliance governance and are strongly encouraged to apply.