SYNTHESIS OF WATER WINDOW CHALLENGE RESULTS

The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) report synthesizes the results of the Water Window Challenge, a program funded by the Z Zurich Foundation to improve flood resilience. The initiative supported 11 grantees implementing 12 projects across sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia. The report evaluates progress through four Impact Pathways: policy influencing, finance and investment, innovation and scaling, and knowledge and partnership. Key outcomes include supporting over 500,000 people, establishing new partnerships, and implementing innovative technological and agricultural solutions to mitigate flood risks.

• The Water Window Challenge supported over 500,000 people across eight countries, with approximately 51% of those reached being women.
• Grantees implemented a variety of technical and organizational interventions, enabling at least 189,362 people to use early warning systems (EWS) or climate information and training at least 16,920 people in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilient agricultural techniques.
• Cost-benefit analyses (CBA) across the portfolio generally indicate that benefits exceed costs from the perspective of local policy-makers, although most estimates excluded program costs. For example, Lutheran World Relief (LWR) reported a benefit-to-cost ratio of 2.31, while the University of Potsdam's urban project showed a ratio of 34 when including the benefits of an externally funded sluice.
• Scaling grantees demonstrated success through 'layered' interventions that combine livelihood strengthening with physical resilience. Notable examples include the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) harnessing 24 million liters of water for harvesting and micro-irrigation, and Seacology establishing 347 women-led community-based organizations (CBOs) to conserve mangroves in Sri Lanka.
• The program achieved significant policy influence, including Seacology's contribution to the Sri Lankan government's pledge to protect all mangroves and the legalization of a Transboundary forum by Mercy Corps in Indonesia to advise government on policy.
• Technological innovations included the development of flood-resilient floating houses by BRAC University and the University of Waterloo, as well as the use of the AtmaGo app by Mercy Corps to deliver DRR information to over 10,000 people.
• The synthesis identifies that the most critical enablers for success are effective partnerships, stakeholder buy-in, and the use of evidence and learning to demonstrate value.
• Major challenges faced by grantees were primarily administrative (bureaucracy and reporting systems) and social (establishing and maintaining collaborations), highlighting a need for greater flexibility and time in project planning.

APA

Robens, S., Yaron, G., Sladkova, B., Smith, G., Wilson, D., & Verkaart, S. (2019). SYNTHESIS OF WATER WINDOW CHALLENGE RESULTS. Global Resilience Partnership. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/grp-ww-synthesis.pdf

Chicago

Robens, Sarah, Gil Yaron, Barbora Sladkova, Gregg Smith, David Wilson, and Simone Verkaart. SYNTHESIS OF WATER WINDOW CHALLENGE RESULTS. Global Resilience Partnership, 2019. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/grp-ww-synthesis.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Robens |first1=Sarah |last2=Yaron |first2=Gil |last3=Sladkova |first3=Barbora |last4=Smith |first4=Gregg |last5=Wilson |first5=David |last6=Verkaart |first6=Simone |title=SYNTHESIS OF WATER WINDOW CHALLENGE RESULTS |publisher=Global Resilience Partnership |date=September 2019 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/grp-ww-synthesis.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{robens2019synthesis, author = {Robens, Sarah and Yaron, Gil and Sladkova, Barbora and Smith, Gregg and Wilson, David and Verkaart, Simone}, title = {{SYNTHESIS OF WATER WINDOW CHALLENGE RESULTS}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/grp-ww-synthesis.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }