The Global Water Partnership is a working partnership among all those involved in water management: government agencies, public institutions, private companies, professional organizations, multilateral development agencies and others committed to the Dublin-Rio principles.



Today, this comprehensive partnership actively identifies critical knowledge needs at global, regional and national levels, helps design programs for meeting these needs, and serves as a mechanism for alliance building and information exchange on integrated water resources management.



The mission of the Global Water Partnership is to "support countries in the sustainable management of their water resources."



The GWP's objectives are to:



- Clearly establish the principles of sustainable water resources management,



- Identify gaps and stimulate partners to meet critical needs within their available human and financial resources,



- Support action at the local, national, regional or riverbasin level that follows principles of sustainable water resources management,



- Help match needs to available resources.



Although it is widely understood that water should be holistically managed, it was not until the Dublin Conference on Water and the Environment in 1992 and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 that a more comprehensive approach to water management was judged necessary for sustainable development. This awareness, together with the need for participatory institutional mechanisms related to water, called for a new coordinating organisation. In response to this demand, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) created the Global Water Partnership (GWP) in 1996.



This initiative was based on promoting and implementing integrated water resources management through the development of a worldwide network that could pull together financial, technical, policy and human resources to address the critical issues of sustainable water management.