2009

March 2009

Fifth World Water Forum, Istanbul, Turkey, March 16 - 22

WWAP will play a significant role in a number of key events during the 5th World Water Forum, held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 16 to 22 March 2009.  On the opening day of the Forum, 16 March, the Director-General of UNESCO will present, on behalf of the whole UN system, in plenary, the third edition of the triennial World Water Development Report (WWDR-3) coordinated by the World Water Assessment Programme that will continue an established tradition, as the Director-General presented the first two editions of the report in the 3rd and 4th Fora.

WWAP will also organize a number of events throughout the week which provide an opportunity to delve into the key messages and contents of the Report.  These include:

1. Press Conference on the WWDR-3 on 12 March in New-York. More information.
2. Launch of the World Water Development Report 3. 16 March, 17:00 - 19:00. More information.
3. WWDR-3: Findings and Main Messages Side Event. 18 March, 15:00 - 16:30. Attendees will be able to learn more about the content and findings of the Report, as well as participate in question-and-answer with the Report’s production team. More information.
4. WWDR-3 Case Studies Side Event. 17 March, 11:30 - 13:00. Several of WWAP’s country partners will present and respond to questions on a number of case studies included in the WWDR-3. More information.
5. WWAP’s Side Publications. 18 March, 16:30 - 18:00. Several publications will be presented that have been produced together with partner organizations in order to provide more focused, in-depth information, scientific background knowledge and policy guidelines. More information.

In addition, WWAP will hold a stand within the UN-Water Pavilion where further information on the WWDR-3 and related reports and materials will be available.  Regular updates on events and material on the WWDR-3 will be available through announcements and the WWAP website pages on the WWDR-3. We are looking forward to the launch of this important Report, and to sharing it with you in Istanbul!

February 2009

Annual UN-Water Meeting hosted in Perugia

During the first week of February this year, the 10th Annual Meeting of UN-Water took place at the new premises of the WWAP Secretariat, at the Villa La Colombella in Perugia, Italy. UN-Water is the mechanism which works to strengthen co-ordination and coherence among all UN bodies dealing with water-related issues, from health to farming, environment to energy, food to climate, and sanitation to disasters.

During the meeting, UN-Water members discussed the mechanism’s work plan for the coming two years and the progress of its programmes,and approved the planned activities of the UN-Water Task Forces. The ‘Indicator, Monitoring and Report Task Force’ and the ‘Country Level Coherence and Coordination Task Force’ held workshops prior to the UN-Water meeting on February 2nd.

Established in 2003, UN-Water evolved from many years of close collaboration among UN agencies and a firm belief that more can be done to strengthen the UN system in its effort to work more effectively on water and sanitation issues. UN-Water adds value to existing United Nations programmes and projects, and fosters co-operation and information-sharing among UN agencies and outside partners. For more information about UN-Water, please visit the official website at www.unwater.org.

January 2009

WWAP Expert group on Indicators, Monitoring and Databases (EG-IMD) holds meeting in Perugia

On January 29-30, the EG-IMD held a meeting of “data and indicator users” in which a dozen representatives of different user groups, including private sector, policy development and major water user sectors, discussed the types of global indicators they would like to see available in terms of water resources. The discussions focused on three categories (or “domains”) of indicators: the state of the resource, water uses, and the interface between the resource and its use, governance and performance.

This meeting was the first of a three-phase process. The consultation will feed directly into the second stage: a strategic discussion among data providers and interpreters, who will be asked to reflect upon the outcomes of the users group from a supply-side perspective. These deliberations will focus on which elements from the user groups are achievable, and what can be done to address those that are not. The third stage of the process will bring together members of both groups who will be asked to synthesize the results of the previous consultations and develop recommendations for highlighting complementary conclusions and for bridging the gap between users and providers interpreters.

On the basis of this work, it is hoped that, in the WWDR4, it will be possible to report some substantive progress and to answer key questions such as whether and how changing water resource endowments are impacting on different countries and regions, whether there is progress in improving the efficiency with which water is used for national socio-economic development and whether the degradation of the water environment has been slowed. At the very least, it should be possible to report on the steps that have been taken to improve the flow of data and information to enable key trends to be established and monitored.