Content Submission Guide

The IW:LEARN website is the global hub for knowledge, news, and milestones from across the GEF International Waters portfolio. We welcome content that highlights project results, transboundary cooperation, and innovations linked to the management of our shared waters.

IW:LEARN can promote your content pieces on our website, reaching about 30k monthly visitors, our monthly bulletin and social media channels.

If you need any help or guidance on your story’s structure contact the GEF IW: LEARN Communications Team (communications@iwlearn.org).

• Website Publication: All high-quality submissions that meet our technical standards are published on the IW:LEARN website and promoted via our social media channels.

• The Monthly Bulletin: A curated selection of these stories is featured in our monthly bulletin ([Subscribe here]).

Please note: Inclusion in the bulletin is not guaranteed. Our editorial team selects featured items based on newsworthiness, alignment with the monthly theme, and adherence to our content standards.

To ensure your contribution has the best chance of being featured, please follow the guidelines below and the Content Submission Template that you can find here.

This dynamic platform consistently highlights the latest developments, achievements, and events within the GEF IW community. Whether it is a concise update, a brief story, or a comprehensive feature, all contributions are warmly welcome to make this bulletin a vibrant source of updates for the entire community. The IW:LEARN comms team sends a call for contributions with themes and submission deadlines every month.

The story submission template is available here.

IW:LEARN bulletin counts with 2000+ subscribers, reaching out to a vast number of the IW community. Some of the content pieces that are published on the bulletin will also be shared with the GEF communication team, ensuring wider outreach.

Before writing, ask: Is this news, or is this a report? News must be timely and relevant to the broader IW community.

• The Lead (The "Hook"): Put the most important information in the first sentence. Who did what, where, and why does it matter today?

• Timeliness: News has an expiration date. Share milestones, treaty signings, or workshop as soon as they come out.

• The "So What?" Factor: Connect your project news to global trends (e.g., "This new aquifer map is a major step toward achieving SDG 6.5").

• Stick to the Facts: News should be objective. Save the emotional narrative for the "Stories" section.

Technical data proves a point, but characters prove the impact.

• Find your "Protagonist": Instead of saying "the project improved water access," introduce us to a farmer, a scientist, or a local official whose life changed.

• Use the Backstory: Where did they start? Showing the "before and after" makes the GEF IW project’s difference demonstrable.

• Quotes are Gold: Use direct quotes to capture authenticity. A quote should sound like a person talking, not a press release.

The goal is to be conversational, not clinical.

• Ditch the Jargon: Avoid "development speak" and excessive acronyms. If a non-expert can’t understand the sentence, simplify it.

• Use Active Verbs: Instead of "The samples were collected by the team," write "The team collected the samples." It creates energy.

• Avoid "Shopping Lists": Don't just list programmatic accomplishments. Connect the dots between the activity and the larger mission.

Back up your narrative with credible data, but keep it streamlined.

• Primary Sources Only: Link to GEF IW project reports, UN-wide sources, or executing agency data.

• Avoid Secondary Links: Do not link to Wikipedia or general media articles. Stick to the official "source of truth."

• Separate Assets: Never embed photos or graphics directly into the Word document. This lowers quality for the web team.

• Photo Size: Max 10 MB

• Video Size: Max 499 MB

• Suggested Placement: Use a placeholder in the text, e.g., [Insert Photo 1 here].

• Caption & Credit: Always provide a descriptive caption and the proper photo credit (e.g., Photo: UNESCO/Name) for every attachment.

We use tags to make our content searchable across the whole website. Please refer to the ones listed below: