The distribution of drinking water becomes the most urgent among emergency activities immediately after a natural disaster. IHP launched the 'Groundwater for Emergency Situations' (GWES) project to consider natural and man-induced catastrophic events that could adversely influence human health and life and to identify in advance potential safe, low vulnerability groundwater resources which could temporarily replace damaged supply systems. In practical terms, the project aims to preserve the 'clean water' contained in specific aquifer systems to be used in case of an emergency situation due to natural disasters such as the tsunami events.

The GWES Framework Document is the first step in the preparation of guidelines for the identification and management of strategic groundwater bodies to be used for emergency situations resulting from extreme events or in case of conflicts.

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The Participation Programme serves as a means for achieving UNESCO's objectives. It enables the Organization to associate itself with Member States' initiatives and activities in the execution of the programme, particularly in priority areas, and to provide them with technical and financial assistance to that end. It is also an effective means of strengthening partnerships and improving the relevance of regional cooperation, of boosting the action of the National Commissions for UNESCO and strengthening their capacities, and of involving the Secretariat's sectors and services more closely in the evaluation and implementation of projects.

This 40-page brochure provides a general overview of the Participation Programme, the improvements it brings to project implementation and the contribution it makes to the ongoing task of achieving greater synergy between the efforts of Member States and those of the UNESCO Secretariat. Photos, tables and graphs illustrating this brochure attest to the success of certain projects implemented in 2002-2003.

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To order a print copy, contact UNESCO's Participation Programme Section

If everyone is aware today that freshwater and its management are vital issues for the survival of the planet, it is largely because of the scientific programmes that UNESCO set up over a 25-year period.

What was at first an embryonic research programme became a major scientific research project on arid zones in 1956 and then grew to become the International Hydrological Decade in 1964. This action was extended in 1975 and renamed the International Hydrological Programme, which soon began working with two related undertakings - the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), both of which are still active today.

Why and how did UNESCO become involved in a field that is not even mentioned in the Organization's founding Act and that at first glance it had no qualifications for? How did UNESCO come to play, against all expectations, a major international role in the field of water? These are the questions that Michel Batisse answers in recounting his own involvement in the UNESCO water adventure. This story is told by one of its main actors, who, starting in 1951 and for more than a half-century, held positions of the highest responsibility within the Organization and received the most prestigious recognition from the international scientific community.

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This volume, a contribution to the IHP Ecohydrology Project, comprises the report on the International Workshop held 14-16 October 2004 in Petronell, Austria, organized by the International Association for Danube Research (IAD) and sponsored by the UNESCO Venice Office. The workshop aimed at fostering an understanding between two traditional scientific disciplines, hydrology and limnology, in view of the catchment approach and sustainable Danube River Basin management and ultimately toward the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive. It gathered 28 limnologists and hydrologists from Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia and Switzerland.

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Hydrological Drought is a textbook for university students, practicing hydrologists and researchers. The main scope of this book is to provide the reader with a comprehensive review of processes and estimation methods for streamflow and groundwater drought. It includes a qualitative conceptual understanding of drought features and processes, a detailed presentation of estimation methods and tools, practical examples and key aspects of operational practice. The methods are demonstrated using sample data sets and tools that are provided on the accompanying CD. The idea of compiling a textbook on hydrological drought first emerged in the Northern European FRIEND Low Flow Group as a result of many years of close cooperation in drought research. The book, nº 48 in the Elsevier series Developments in Water Science, is edited by Lena M. Tallaksen and Henny A.J. van Lanen.

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Groundwater is of high social, economic, environmental and strategic importance. It represents about 97% of the freshwater resources available on earth, excluding the water locked in the polar ice. Aquifers, among them numerous transboundary ones, are coming under growing pressure from over-abstraction and pollution, which seriously threaten their sustainability. Up to now international law has paid much less attention to ground- than to surface water. Slowly however, a body of rules dealing with this vital resource is emerging that indicates a trend towards more comprehensive international regulation. It is against this backdrop that FAO and UNESCO have joined forces and embarked on this publication project.

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Water problems are most acute in Africa where it is estimated that 300 million people are affected by water shortages. UNESCO and the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Territory (IMET) have thus identified integrated water management in Africa as a priority, particularly in arid and water scarce zones, and have jointly launched the Water Programme for Africa, Arid and Water Scarce Zones [PDF format-1.3 MB] as a contribution to the attainment of the UN Millenium Development Goals.
The programme aims to secure adequate training capacity and dissemination of best practices related to water resources in arid areas, to become a catalyst for protecting the fragile environment of water scarce regions, and to foster regional peace and development through dialogue, cooperation and participatory management.
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This volume, released in January 2005 by the Cambridge University Press and edited by M. Bonell and L.A. Bruijnzeel, is the most comprehensive review available of the hydrological and physiological functioning of tropical rain forests, the environmental impacts of their disturbance and conversion to other land uses, and optimum strategies for managing them. It brings together leading specialists in such diverse fields as tropical anthropology and human geography, environmental economics, climatology and meteorology, hydrology, geomorphology, plant and aquatic ecology, forestry and conservation agronomy.
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The International Workshop on 'Managing Shared Aquifer Resources in Africa', held in Tripoli in June 2002 was hosted and supported by the General Water Authority of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and jointly convened by UNESCO/IHP under the ISARM initiative. The workshop gave high priority to the conclusion of the inventory of African shared aquifers, including preparation of policy guidelines for sustainable development of shared aquifers, and timely involvement and action for the implementation of an African ISARM programme, drawing on the support of existing and new partners.
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