[Hawassa 18- 20 Dec. 2025] The Water and Land Resource Centre (WLRC) in collaboration with the Rift Valley Lakes Basin Administration Office of the Ministry of Water and Energy (MoWE) facilitated a three-day Training of Trainers (ToT) on Gender and Social Inclusion in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) at Hawassa South Star Hotel. Dr Wondimu Tadiwos, Head of Rift Valley Lakes Basin Administration Office, welcomed the trainees and officially opened the ToT session. Dr Wondimu acknowledged the BRIGHT projects’ intervention on capacity development in the areas of gender and social inclusion for experts working in diverse sectors such as agriculture, water, environment, gender, technology, innovation, and research in the Basin. The training aimed to enable trainees to move beyond theory and apply gender-transformative approaches and climate resilience in Ethiopia’s National IWRM programs. The Gender and Social Inclusion thematic lead for the BRIGHT Project Dr. Engidasew Feleke indicated that the training focused on the strategic importance of shifting from concepts to practice, where hands-on group work activities enabled stakeholders to draft stakeholder-led action plans tailored to the unique realities of the Rift Valley Lakes Basin. By making gender-responsive and women empowerment approaches central to IWRM, the BRIGHT project gender and social inclusion thematic area (WP 5.2.5) is equipping experts with mechanisms to ensure inclusive and people-centred water governance. This session engaged 26 experts (19 men and 7 women) from key water, land, energy, and environmental institutions, including zonal bureaus, the Rift Valley Basin Administration, local government offices, Hawassa University, and related agencies. This diverse representation ensured strong technical, policy, and community perspectives on IWRM, with attention to gender and social inclusion.