CONCLUSIONS 1st DAY
4th February 2026 | 17.30 – 18.00 CET
Description
Conclusions of the fisrt day of the Cassandra Conference 2026.
Speakers in this session:
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LESHA WITMER, Co-founder, Women for Water Partnership
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DAVID SMITH, Director, WE@B
Speakers in this session
LESHA WITMER
Co-founder, Women for Water Partnership
Co-founder Women for Water Partnership and until recently Advisor and former steering committee member, advocacy lead (2014-2024). She still represents WfWP inter alia to CSW, HLPF, UNESCO, UNEA and is the Facilitator of the informal group for CSO/ NGO mobilization Coalition to create a participatory path for UNWC2026. (CPP-2026)(current). She is a Steering Committee member of the Butterfly Effect NGO coalition (current), member of the IAC for the Dushanbe process. Former Vice-president of International Water Resources Association (IWRA) (2022-2024) and member of the ISC for the next world water congress 2025; former chair of the stakeholder engagement platform and former Deputy chair Strategic advisory committee World Water Quality Alliance (WWQA) (2022 – Oct. 2025); Member of the UNESCO WWAP water and gender working group.
Former advisor government of the Netherlands, Elected women representative twice to the commission on sustainable development and delegate to the Commission on the status of women CSW).
She is an Independent senior advisor (25+ years): water governance (strategy, policy, advocacy), stakeholder involvement; gender & equality strategies, policies, tools. Connector / huge network.
Inter alia; consultant WaterAid on WASH governance; Former special advisor to WWF international and Nile Basin Discourse.
Degrees in Human Resources, General Management (Univ. Nijenrode, NL) (master equivalents), studied western sociology and (international and labor) law.
DR. DAVID SMITH
Director of WE&B
Dr. David Smith is the director of the consulting company, Water, Environment and Business for Development (WE&B). He has a Bachelor’s degree in Botany and Zoology (2000) and an Honors Degree in Limnology (2001) from the University of Cape Town (RSA). He has a Masters Degree in Water and Environmental Management from Loughborough University (UK) (2015) and a PhD from the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Environmental Science and Technology. David has managed more than 30 projects on environmental studies across the globe for clients such as the European Commission, the World Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank, the Global Green Growth Institute, United Nations Organisations, amongst others. His expertise in economic and social development is focused on environmental management, integrated water resource management, Green Growth, environmental business models, ecosystem services, stakeholder participation and engagement strategies, climate change adaptation and mitigation and capacity development. David was an elected board member (2012 – 2013) of Water Europe (the European Water Platform). He was an elected as Co-chair of the water reuse task force (2011 – 2013) and is currently the elected chair of the Water Beyond Europe working group of the Water Europe Network.