On 5 February 2015, on the occasion of the 6th annual meeting of UN-SPIDER's Regional Support Offices (RSOs) in Vienna, UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, signed a memorandum of understanding, making IWMI the 17th member of UN-SPIDER's network of RSOs. The memorandum was signed by UNOOSA's director Simonetta Di Pippo on behalf of UNOOSA and Dr Giriraj Amarnath on behalf of IWMI.
Simonetta Di Pippo stressed the importance of the RSOs for UN-SPIDER's work: "I see the RSO network as a key component of the programme and even more so in the future." She also pointed out that she was hopeful that other organizations would join the network soon.
IWMI is a non-profit, scientific research organization focusing on the sustainable use of water and land resources in developing countries. It is headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with regional offices across Asia and Africa. IWMI works in partnership with governments, civil society and the private sector to develop scalable agricultural water management solutions that have a real impact on poverty reduction, food security and ecosystem health. IWMI is a member of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.
