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INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FRESHWATER
2003
3rd World Water Forum Concludes 100 New Commitments Made
More than 100 new
commitments on water were made by participants of the
eight-day 3rd World Water Forum, the most important
international water meeting ever, which concluded Sunday.
The Forum was held
in the three neighboring Japanese cities of Kyoto, Shiga and
Osaka from March 16-23, holding 351 separate sessions on 38
interlocking themes dealing with water, especially on how to
bring safe water and sanitation to the entire world.
Some 24,000
participants from 182 countries, more than triple the number of
participants expected, attended the sessions. The key issues
that they addressed revolved around balancing increasing human
requirements for adequate water supplies and improved health and
sanitation with food production, transportation, energy and
environmental needs, while most countries will require more
effective governance, improved capacity and adequate financing.
"The 3rd World
Water Forum has become a truly 'action-oriented' conference,"
said Kenzo Hiroki, Vice Secretary General of the 3rd World Water
Forum."
"I have talked with
hundreds of participants in sessions and in the corridors," said
William J. Cosgrove, Vice President of the World Water Council,
one of the main conveners of the World Water Forums, held every
three years in a different host country. "Without exception,
they reported that they consider that the Forum exceeded their
expectations. It was a unique opportunity to form partnerships,
join networks and learn from the experience of others."
They agreed that
the "community level public participation is fundamental to
achieving these goals," and that the "common basic requirement
for water is an opportunity for cooperation and peace."
The Organizing
Committee issued a preliminary 8-page Forum Statement, in which
the Committee agreed that they will be "solemnly committed to
facing the global water challenges and to meeting the goals set
forth at the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in New York
(2000)" Ð cutting in half the proportion of poor people without
secure access to water and sanitation by 2015.
"This statement is
only preliminary," said Mr. Cosgrove, Vice President of the
World Water Council. "It has been posted on the Forum's website
(http://www.world.water-forum3.com).
If any group feels its statement has not been included, or have
changes to suggest, they may send comments to the Secretariat
until April 30th, to be reflected in the final statement.
Of the more than
100 commitments reached during the Forum, the climate theme
accounted for more than 20 commitments, and gender issues
produced 13 commitments.
Some of the global agreements included:
The Ministry of
Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan has supported the
establishment of the International Flood Network (IFNet),
launched during the Third World Water Forum for flood mitigation
at the global stages. IFNET is committed to launching the
"Global Flood Warning System" project, with the capacity to
create the precipitation maps all over the world every 3 hours.
As a result, flood warnings in the world will be vastly
improved, benefiting up to 4.8 billion people.
The World Water
Council committed to developing and implementing with a
consortium of International financial institutions, UN agencies,
international non-governmental organizations, and research
institutions a program aiming to precisely identify and
highlight the benefits brought by sound water management and
provide governments with appropriate tools and analysis so that
they may be considered in priority setting, planning,
development, management, and budgeting for the water sector.
UN-HABITAT signed a
memorandum of understanding with the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
to create a program to build the capacity of Asian cities to
secure and manage pro-poor investments and to help the region
meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of halving, by 2015,
the proportion of people without safe drinking water and basic
sanitation. The program will cover a pipeline of US$10 million
in grants from ADB and UN-HABITAT for the first two phases and
US$500 million in ADB loans for water and sanitation projects in
cities across Asia over the next five years. Additional funding
for Water for Asian Cities has also been made available to
UN-HABITAT by the Government of Netherlands.
UNESCO and the
World Water Council committed to promote, develop and support
the establishment and operation of an independent, easily
accessible facility that can help solving problems related to
trans-boundary waters by providing on request access to
experienced technical advisers, tools, training sessions and
mediators.
The partner
international organizations and research institutes (WWC,
UNESCO-IHE, FAO, KIP, IFPRI, IWMI and SOAS) committed to
continue their efforts and to lobby for financial support to
develop a better understanding of the concept of Virtual Water,
its application and its impact and to provide governments with
information and tools to consciously utilize virtual water trade
as an effective way to promote water saving and make it an
integral part of government's national and regional water, food
and environmental policies.
A broad consortium
of organizations (GWP, NRC, FAO, WWC, IWA, WMO, UNEP, IUCN,
UNESCO, UNDP, WB, ISDR) which supported the International
Dialogue on Water and Climate, are committed to continue
building bridges between the climate and water sector, and
develop activities to better cope with climate impacts. These
organizations will form an "International Water and Climate
Alliance".
The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) commits to a Community Water
Initiative, aimed at building on the power of the local
community to solve water and sanitation challenges. Its aim is
to provide innovative communities with small grants to expand
and improve their solutions to the water and sanitation crisis.
The Community Water Initiative has an estimated target budget of
$50 million for 2003-2008.
Through the
Indigenous Peoples Kyoto Water Declaration, the indigenous
participants of the 3rd World Water Forum commit themselves to
forming a network on water issues that will strengthen the voice
of indigenous people generally, and help
empower local
communities struggling to protect their water rights.
The Water and
Sanitation Program (World Bank) committed itself to funding
national capacity building projects for MDG monitoring.
Candidate countries are welcomed to apply.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, UN Water and Care International commit
to a Global Water Initiative, to bring a substantial
contribution to the MDG. It will start soon with a pilot project
in Africa supported by the French Government, with results by
the end of the year 2003.
Some of the regional commitments include:
The international
organizations active in the American region (IADB, OAS, ECLAC,
IUCN, SICA, IWRN, CAN, LANBO and GWP) commit themselves to find
and negotiate solutions for the following issues: (a) policy
development, including rules for efficient and equitable water
allocation; (b) meeting financial needs for water resources
management; (c) effect of international trade agreements on
national water public interest; (d) capacity building for
effective decentralization, water governance, management and
regulation of services; (e) participatory and efficient risk
management; and (f) impact of first world agricultural subsidies
on sustainable water management.
Australia commits
over AUD$80 million in the current financial year for water
activities, primarily in countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Caribbean and
Pacific organizations (CEHI and SOPAC) signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to implement the Joint Programme for Action (37
member states), providing for co-operation on matters including
the freshwater environment, capacity-building, data and
information management, applied research, sharing of expertise.
The Netherlands
will concentrate its support to Africa and assist 10 countries
in the development of their national plans. Further, it is
committed to support the African Water Facility.
The European
Commission is committed through EUREAU to include benchmarking
into the EU Water Initiative.
The Mekong River
Commission (MRC) with the governments of Cambodia, Laos PDR,
Thailand and Vietnam, in collaboration with partners will
prepare a navigation strategy and program by the end of 2003.
The long-term goals of the strategy are to develop sustainable,
effective and safe navigation on the Mekong, and to increase the
international trade opportunities for the mutual benefit of the
member countries of the MRC.
The final statement
said that though increasing water use efficiency through
developments in science and technology and improved demand
management are essential, these alone may not be sufficient to
meet the growing demand for water in most developing regions and
particularly in cities.
"All options to
augment the available water supply, including increased storage
through the use of groundwater recharge and dams, need to be
considered, ensuring that all those who will be affected will
also benefit," the final statement said. "The recommendations
from the World Commission on Dams (2002) can be used as a
reference. A wider adoption of good practice is required in
order to avoid the environmental and social costs and risks of
the past."
Other key issues:
Governance: Many
countries face a governance crisis, rather than a water crisis,
the final statement said. "Good water governance requires
effective and accountable socio-political and administrative
systems adopting an integrated water resources management (IWRM)
approach with transparent and participatory processes that
address ecological and human needs."
Capacity Building:
The need for capacity building, education and access to
information for enhanced effectiveness in water management is
unquestioned. These critical elements of the water development
process are often treated as an add-on to programs, with scant
regard to local capacity-building institutions, gender
mainstreaming, cultural diversity and traditional knowledge or
to long-term commitment.
Financing:
Financing infrastructure for the water sector comes mainly from
the public sector of developing countries and is "topped-up"
with contributions from foreign aid, international financial
institutions, commercial loans and private equity. Despite the
link between water security, development and poverty
alleviation, overall investment in water resources management
has been seriously neglected. According to the Vision and other
estimates, developing and transitional countries will require
$180 billion annually in order to produce global water security
over the next 25 years. This will require greater efficiency and
better financial management. Several models for combining
public, donor and/or private funding have been attempted, and
the results have been mixed. The debate concerning
public-private partnerships has not been resolved.
Participation: In
many regions, countries and local communities have come to
realize that water is a multi-stakeholder issue, and that
partnerships of all interested and affected parties are a viable
mechanism to translate IWRM into practice. Major groups
including CEOs, unions, indigenous people, water journalists,
parliamentarians, youth and children all have a point of view
and deserve the right to be heard. Yet large segments of
society, especially women and the poor, are not given a voice.
There is a need for a closer examination of participation based
on race, ethnicity, economic status, age, and religion to ensure
inclusiveness.
Regional Issues:
Although most of the issues outlined above are global, some are
of particular concern in certain regions. Asia and the Pacific
face a main water challenge due to the growth in both water
demand and population. Pervasive poverty has confined Africa to
a vicious cycle of underdevelopment, conflict, and suffering. In
the Americas, large investments in water-related projects and
macroeconomic reforms have failed to stimulate sustainable
economic growth. Dwindling water resources are threatening
people's livelihood, the environment, and economic growth in the
Middle East-Mediterranean. And Europe's water resources are
subject to considerable pressure due to the relatively high
population density, significant industrial activity and
intensive agricultural production.
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