UNESCO set for busy schedule at the 5th World Water Forum

With water as one of its major priorities, UNESCO is involved in various sessions of the 5th World Water Forum, either directly coordinated by the International Hydrological Programme (IHP), the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, or in collaboration with other UNESCO programmes, NGOs and partners. Additionally, UNESCO will take the lead in the celebration of World Water Day, on 22 March, under the theme 'Shared Water – Shared Opportunities'. On this occasion, the UN World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) will officially launch the third edition of the World Water Development Report.

Full list of UNESCO activities at the 5th World Water Forum

Full list of UNESCO-IHE activities at the 5th World Water Forum

5th World Water Forum Website

World Water Development Report 3 "Water in a Changing World" to be Launched March 16th

After several years of sustained effort, WWAP is pleased to announce that the third edition of the World Water Development Report (WWDR), "Water in a Changing World", and its companion case study volume "Facing the Challenges" will be launched on March 16th at the Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey.  On the opening day of the Forum, the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, will present the new Report, which builds on the conclusions of the first and second reports, "Water for People, Water for Life" (2003) and "Water: A Shared Responsibility" (2006).

The WWDR, which aims to provide an authoritative assessment of the status of the world’s freshwater resources, is the only report of its kind.  It is the result of collaboration and effort among the 26 members of UN-Water, country partners, non-governmental organizations, a technical advisory committee, expert groups, and hundreds of contributions from stakeholders through global public consultations.

As the launch date for the third Report draws nearer, continuously updated information on the Report, its contents and key messages, its participatory development process, and related events during the Fifth World Water Forum will be available on our WWDR-3 webpage.

Launch of new WWDR-3 Case Study Volume: "Facing the Challenges"

WWAP is pleased to announce that the WWDR-3 will be launched in conjunction with a companion volume of case studies, titled "Facing the Challenges."  This first stand-alone volume includes 20 studies from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Latin America, where conditions of water-related stress and socio-economic settings vary widely.  These case studies will continue the work of previous reports by providing in-depth analysis of the state of freshwater resources and related challenges that directly affect the livelihoods of people in the societies.

One of the overarching objectives of the World Water Assessment Programme is to assist countries in enhancing their national capacity for water resources assessment by building on existing strengths and experiences.  This mission has always constituted an integral part of the World Water Development Reports, which have included the findings of case study development projects covering different geographic regions of the world. Over the life of the programme to date, more than 64 countries have been covered at basin or national level. The growing number of case studies – seven in the first report, sixteen in the second, and twenty in the third – required the creation of a separate volume from the main body of the Report.

"Facing the Challenges" includes the following case studies: The Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (Spain), Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, the Cholistan desert (Pakistan), Estonia, the Han River basin (Republic of Korea), Istanbul (Turkey), the Lake Merín basin (Brazil and Uruguay), La Plata River basin (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), the Netherlands, Pacific island states, the Po River basin (Italy), Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, the Vuoksi River basin (Finland and the Russian Federation) and Zambia.

As the launch date for the third Report draws nearer, continuously updated information on the Report, its contents and key messages, its participatory development process, and related events will be available on our WWDR-3 webpage.

Director-General of UNESCO to launch IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level at the 5th World Water Forum

The IWRM Guidelines will be launched by Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, 16th March, 2009.

The Guidelines are produced as a contribution of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme towards the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) with dedicated support from Japanese Government.

The Guidelines consist of two parts.

1. Overarching Principles of IWRM at River Basin Level for policy-makers
2. Practical keys for success and good examples intended for practitioners of IWRM at River Basin Level

The Guidelines propose a ‘Spiral Model’ of IWRM, which illustrates the evolving and dynamic nature of the IWRM process. Accumulated ‘Key for Success’ can be used in practice to help IWRM succeed at the river basin level. ‘Good examples’ in several different river basins worldwide show how these keys could overcome the issues.

Full document of the IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level (PDF format):

• Brochure Presentation
• Part 1 Principles
• Part 2-1 Guidelines for IWRM Coordination
• Part 2-2 Guidelines for Flood Management
• Part 2-3 Invitation to IWRM for Irrigation Practitioners

These are meant to be a living document – users are therefore invited to contribute to their improvement with suggestions and by introducing new case studies.

Further Information:
Toshihiro Sonoda, Programme Specialist, Division of Water Sciences, UNESCO, Paris,
Email: t.sonoda@unesco.org

Call for papers: Water Utilities and Law: Current Trends and Developments

UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science at the University of Dundee, Scotland, UK, will hold a two-day Conference on Water Utilities and Law. The Conference will address the role of law in promoting appropriate policies, structural design and regulatory solutions in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals target of reducing the proportion of people without access to sustainable, safe drinking water by half.

Submission

The papers submitted should address any of these areas: legal implications of governance, competition law in water services, national courts trends, regulation of publicly-owned water utilities, foreign investment in water services, public-private partnerships, institutional and regulatory structures and transplantation of legal institutions to solve water problems.

Deadline: 15 April 2009

Conference website

Full call for papers announcement

Satellite flow forecasting system implemented in the Yellow River

A Sino-Dutch project to implement a satellite based drought monitoring and flow forecasting system in the Yellow River basin was successfully completed. The system is the first one in the world and is considered an important innovation in the water sector. It was developed by EARS and UNESCO-IHE from Delft, the Netherlands, in cooperation with the Hydrological Bureau of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission.

See full press release

Access a complete list of water events around the world

Job vacancies at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education (Delft, The Netherlands)

The UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education (Delft, The Netherlands), Department of Urban Water and Sanitation, is pleased to announce three (3) job vacancies:

• Senior Lecturer in Water Supply Engineering (Vacancy number 09-300-01. Closing date: 19 April 2009)
• Senior Lecturer in Sanitary/Wastewater Engineering (Vacancy number 09-300-02. Closing date: 19 April 2009)
• Professor of Water Supply Engineering (Vacancy number 09-300-03. Closing date: 3 May 2009)

Full details on the responsibilities, requirements, conditions of employment and application procedure for each of the above vacancies are attached. Information on these vacancies is likewise available online, at http://www.unesco-ihe.org/About/Vacancies.

Water, Ecosystems and Society - Jayantha Bandyopadhyay

Water, Ecosystems and Society is an excellent guide to interdisciplinary knowledge on water. It draws attention to ecological benefits of floods, economic productivity of water systems and the feasibility of the proposed river-link project of India. It focuses on the need to recognise ecosystem services provided by rivers as well as the necessity of environmental flows in such a system. The book deals with emerging areas of research, by connecting ecology, economics and water management.

Order the book

• The World Water Forum is the largest international event related to water.
• The World Water Forum is co-organized by the World Water Council and a host government. For the 5th World Water Forum, this government is Turkey and the Forum will be held in Istanbul.
• Previous Fora have been held in Marrakech (1997), The Hague (2000), Kyoto (2003) and Mexico City (2006). The largest of the previous Fora was in Kyoto, which received more than 24,000 participants.
• The World Water Fora are organized every three years.
• The goals of the World Water Fora are to:
  • To raise the importance of water on the political agenda
  • To support the deepening of discussions towards the solution of international water issues in the 21st century
  • To formulate concrete proposals and bring their importance to the world's attention
  • To generate political commitment

Information obtained from the website of the 5th World Water Forum.

- International Hydrological Programme
- World Water Assessment Programme
- UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
- Water-related Institutes and Centres under the Auspices of UNESCO
- UNESCO Water-related Chairs

Access the UNESCO Water Portal Update archives (starting at issue Nº 85)

For contributions or comments, contact the editor at waterportal@unesco.org