Currents No.14, newsletter of the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)

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CURRENTS - newsletter from the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)

Issue n°14, March 2005

MARCH IN FOCUS

8 MARCH WAS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
This commemoration underlined the role that women play in water management throughout the world. Studies and experience have shown that women's participation in water management practices can drastically increase the rate of success in such practices. In many societies, water is at the core of women's traditional responsibilities, for such tasks as collecting and storing water, caring for children, cooking, cleaning, and maintaining sanitation. In some countries, women can spend up to five hours a day collecting fuel wood and water, and up to four hours preparing food. From their influence in such matters as sanitation, agricultural irrigation, and water education, the central role of women in water management is gaining more and more recognition.
The Decade will strive in particular to ensure the participation of women in water-related development efforts, as well as the furtherance of cooperation at all levels, and this is one of the aspects that will be taken into consideration in the second World Water Development Report (WWDR II), which will focus on governance. WWDR II will be released next year, on World Water Day 2006.

22 MARCH: WORLD WATER DAY INITIATES THE INTERNATIONAL DECADE FOR ACTION 'WATER FOR LIFE'
World Water Day 2005 (WWD 2005), celebrated on 22 March and coordinated this year by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) will both introduce and be guided by the theme of the International Decade for Action, 'Water for Life.'
The theme of WWD 2005 and the Decade emphasizes the central role that water plays in sustaining human life and well-being. Water is critical for environmental health, biodiversity, energy generation, industrial development, food production, and it plays an essential role in many cultures and religions.
The Decade, established by the UN in Resolution A/RES/58/217 [PDF format - 29 KB], provides the international community with an opportunity to refocus political and global commitment on water-related issues and further cooperation at all levels in order to achieve the water-related goals established in the Millennium Declaration.
Water-related organisms - UN agencies, NGOs, national water authorities - the world over are organizing events on a national or local scale to celebrate the Day.
:: Read more
:: Send an e-card for World Water Day 2005 !
:: Read the message from the UN Secretary General
:: Read the message from the UNESCO Director General
:: Read the WWAP Secretariat statement: 'Water: It's attitude that counts

23 MARCH: WORLD METEOROLOGICAL DAY
The theme for this year's World Meteorological Day (WMD), 'Weather, Climate, Water and Sustainable Development,' ties in with the launch of the International Decade for Action 'Water for Life', which begins on World Water Day on 22 March. The WMD, celebrated on 23 March, focus this year on the vital contribution of meteorological and hydrological services to sustainable development, environmental protection, and such socio-economic development as poverty alleviation.
WMD 2005 is particularly important as it comes on the heels of the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change on 16 February; the Protocol gives ratifying countries from 2008 to 2012 to reduce their combined emission of six major greenhouse gases to below 1990 levels. Climate change, and the related increase in extreme weather events, has been recognized as one of the most significant threats to sustainable development. Such events include flood, drought, and cyclone activity; it is estimated that between 1992 and 2001, some 90 percent of natural disasters were of meteorological origin, killing more than 600,000 people and affecting two billion others.
WMD 2005 is a call for further cooperation in the fields of meteorological and hydrological sciences in order to ensure a more sustainable future, focusing particularly on developing countries, and better understand the climate-related challenges facing the global community.
:: Read the full World Meteorological Day brochure [PDF format - 2.6 MB]
:: Access the official WMD site

WORLD WATER DAY AT WWAP

WWAP STATEMENT IN CELEBRATION OF WORLD WATER DAY 2005 AND THE KICK-OFF OF THE INTERNATIONAL DECADE OF WATER FOR LIFE
Water: the basis of all life, human well-being and economic development, linking together, for better and for worse, all aspects of life on this planet, human and environmental health, food supply, energy and industry. But water can also destroy: a tidal wave, endless days of flooding, years and years of severe drought radically affect these very things. Add to this the problems of pollution, population growth and climate change, which are causing tremendous changes in the quality and quantity of available freshwater and will radically affect how we live our lives and the shape of our future.
:: Read the full declaration

WWAP COORDINATOR TO ADDRESS 'WATER FOR LIFE: THE UK INPUT' CONFERENCE
As part of its Environment and Society Forum, the Royal Geographical Society is hosting on 22 March a one-day conference to mark the official start of the United Nations International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' 2005-2015.
WWAP Coordinator Gordon Young will speak during the International Policy session on the importance of national involvement in the Decade and the major contributions that can be made by NGOs, academia and the private sector. He will give special emphasis to the three key issues identified by the United Nations system as the top priority for the Decade: water scarcity; drinking water supply, sanitation and hygiene; and water-related disasters.
The conference will also include sessions on governance, science, technology and capacity-building and conclude with a panel discussion session. The meeting aims to promote collaboration and alignment of effort across government departments, NGOs and other UK institutions in achieving the water-related Millennium Development Goals and will assist the efforts being made by the UK in support of the water programmes undertaken within the framework of the United Nations.
:: Read more about the conference

WWAP DEPUTY COORDINATOR PARTICIPATES IN FRENCH WATER ACADEMY'S EURO- AFRICAN CONFERENCE
On 22 and 23 March 2005, during WWD 2005 and the launch of the United Nations International Decade for Action 'Water for Life', WWAP Deputy Coordinator Carlos Fernández-Jáuregui will participate in a Euro-African conference on water and territorial management organized at UNESCO Headquarters by the French Water Academy (Académie de l'eau) under the patronage of the French President Jacques Chirac and UNESCO Director General Koïchiro Matsuura.
This conference will bring together African and European specialists, experts, researchers and water and land managers to approach such themes as integrated management, socio-cultural aspects of land and water, and indicators through a pluri-disciplinary and inter-sectional approach. A round table on the theme 'water as a fundamental right' will conclude the event.
This event is part of the European Initiative's Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) programme, which was entrusted to France. It is also part of the follow up of the Camdessus report on financing hydraulic infrastructures, and reflects preoccupations stemming from G8 initiatives.
:: Read more about the conference
:: Five new WWAP case studies are currently underway in France, in preparation for the second World Water Development Report

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT WWAP?

WWAP COORDINATOR PARTICIPATES IN THE PREPARATIONS FOR THE 4TH WORLD WATER FORUM
The World Water Forum is an initiative of the World Water Council that aims to raise global awareness on water issues. As the main international event on water, it seeks to enable multi-stakeholder participation and dialogue to influence water policy-making at a global level, thus assuring better living standards for people the world over and a more responsible social behaviour towards water issues in-line with the pursuit of sustainable development. The 4th World Water Forum will take place in Mexico City in March 2006.
On 23-25 February, two Preparatory Process workshops were held in Mexico City: one for the Americas Committee and another for the Thematic Beacons and Regional Representatives. Experts from different countries came to open the discussion of water-related and sanitation problems to the largest possible number of participants, to provide the forum with strong messages that help increase the general population's awareness of the global water crisis, and to succeed in adopting commitments at the highest level on the international agenda. As a preliminary conclusion of the three-day meetings, Cesar Herrera, the Secretary General of the 4th World Water Forum, emphasized the normative and intellectual role that the Thematic Beacons will play in the Preparatory Process.
WWAP Coordinator Gordon Young was nominated Thematic Beacon for the cross-cutting theme of Targeting, Monitoring and Implementation Assessment, and is actively participating in the Forum's preparatory process. It is during the 4th World Water Forum that the second Word Water Development Report (WWDR II) will be released.
:: Read the first WWDR, 'Water for People, Water for Life'
:: Access the official 4th World Water Forum website

NEW WWAP CASE STUDY: HAIHE RIVER BASIN, CHINA
Beijing, located in the Haihe River Basin, has few available water resources. In order to improve this situation, local water authorities are planning and implementing new measures to promote rational use, scientific protection and reforms of the economic structure for the sustainable use of water resources and the supply and demand of these resources.
It is within this context that an agreement has been reached with WWAP to develop a case study focusing on the sustainable use of Beijing's water resources. The Ministry of Water Resources, the Research Centre of Recycle Economy, the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The Beijing Water Authority, the Water Resources Management Centre, and the Beijing Association of Recycle Economy Development will undertake this case study.

23-25 FEBRUARY: INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON LA PLATA BASIN CASE STUDY
On 23-25 February, an International Seminar on La Plata Basin case study was held in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. The meeting was organized by the Comité Intergubernamental Coordinador (CIC), and the participants discussed the content of this case study, which will be included in the next World Water Development Report (WWDR) to be released on World Water Day (22 March) 2006 in Mexico City, Mexico.

WORLD WATER DAY AT WWAP UN PARTNERS

SPECIAL UNESCO-IHE WWD 2005 SESSIONS
The UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education is organizing an open session on the theme 'Local views and perceptions on achieving the Millennium Development Goals' at its headquarters in Delft, Netherlands, on 22 March.
UNESCO-IHE is also organizing a PhD seminar on Water and Climate to take place at its headquarters on 21 March.

UN-ESCAP AND THAI GOVERNMENT CELEBRATE WWD
The United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) and the government of Thailand have organized several events to celebrate WWD 2005.
Several members of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, with the Executive Secretary of UN-ESCAP, Mr. Kim Hak-Su, as well as the Regional Directors of several UN Agencies, will participate in an opening session on 22 March.
This will be followed by

a two-day technical workshop to discuss water issues in Thailand among stakeholders
an exhibition, where UN agencies, the private sector, NGOs and Thai authorities will have the opportunity to present their water-related projects and activities
a student debate on water-related issues organized with the Rotary Club of Bangkok for high-school and university students.

WWD 2005 WITH THE GLOBAL WATER PARTNERSHIP IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE REGION
On 22 March, Global Water Partnership in the Central and Eastern Europe Region (GWP CEE) Country Water Partnerships will actively promote principles of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) through a series of national and local events in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
GWP Lithuania will for example organize drawing and photo competitions, and GWP-Bulgaria and their partners propose presentations on IWRM, flash floods and economic aspects of the EU Water Framework Directive in Sofia. Some of these events will be maintained until Danube Day.
The Danube River Basin plays important role in the region: as the most international watercourse in Europe, the river and its tributaries bind people together. Under the auspices of the International Commission for Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), national governments will lead celebrations in all 13 countries of the Danube River Basin on the anniversary of the Danube Convention signed in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 29 June 1994. Danube Day aims to raise awareness and involve the general public in implementing various aspects of the EU Water Framework Directive. ICPDR also invited influential NGOs and GWP CEE to participate.
ICPDR is actively participating in the preparation of WWDR II by providing case study examples.
:: Access the official GWP CEE website
:: Read more about Danube Day