JULY IN FOCUS
 2nd United Nations World Water Development Report Executive Summary in Catalan" align="left" border="0" hspace="10">Now online: Catalan version of the 2nd United Nations World Water Development Report Executive Summary
The Executive Summary of the 2nd United Nations World Water Development Report, 'Water, a shared responsibility' (WWDR2, 2006), is now available online in Catalan. This Catalan version of the Executive Summary was coordinated by the UNESCO Centre of Catalonia (UNESCOCAT), Spain.
The executive summary is also available in English, French, Spanish and Basque.
:: Access the WWDR2 Executive Summary in Catalan [PDF format - 1,66 MB]
:: Access the WWDR2 Executive Summary in English [PDF format - 2,62 MB]
:: Read more about WWDR2
FORTHCOMING INTERNATIONAL DAYS
9 August: International Day of the World's Indigenous People
Organizer: the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA)
:: Website
UPCOMING EVENTS
20-26 August: World Water Week, Stockholm, Sweden
Theme: Building Capacity - Promoting Partnership - Reviewing Implementation
Organizer: Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
The World Water Week in Stockholm is the leading annual global meeting place for experts from businesses, governments, the water management and science sectors, inter-governmental organizations, NGOs, research and training institutions and United Nations agencies.
:: Read more
11-13 September: IASTED International Conference on Environmentally Sound Technology in Water Resources Management (ESTW 2006), Gaborone, Botswana
Theme: Science and Technology for Development in the 21st Century
Organizer: International Association of Science and Technology for Development (IASTED)
:: Read more
WWAP NEWS
Now online: New Facts and Figures
The WWAP team is currently updating the Facts and Figures sheets using the latest data fro the 2nd UN World Water Development Programme (WWDR2, 2006). Based on the challenge areas that structure the Reports, these fact sheets present data and figures extracted from WWDR1 and WWDR2.
New facts and figures on 'meeting basic needs' are now available online.
:: Meeting basic needs
WWAP meeting with the government of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain
Mrs Ana Oregi, deputy-advisor for territory and water management, Mr Tomás Epalza, Director of the Water Department, and Mr Iñaki Urrutia, Environment technician, of the Basque government, Spain, met with Mr Mikel Mancisidor, UNESCO Etxea director, Jasone Unzueta, in charge of the Environment section of UNESCO Etxea, and Mr Carlos Fernández-Jáuregui, WWAP deputy coordinator, on 30 June in Vitoria, Spain.
They evaluated their joint actions, such as the Basque Country case study, their participation in the 4th World Water Forum and the publication of the WWDR2 executive summary in Spanish and Basque.
They also agreed to jointly organise a seminar on water agencies in Bilbao and Vitoria on 28 and 29 September, were the Spanish and Basque versions of the executive summary will be presented officially.
:: Read more about the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country case study
:: Access the Executive summary in Basque [PDF format - 2.62 MB]
WWAP CASE STUDIES
Public-Private Partnerships in Uganda
In Uganda, the current water-tariff structure is based on affordability and uniformity across the country. The current tariffs are not adequate for system expansion, but are in most cases able to cover operation and maintenance costs. Full cost recovery (operation and maintenance, depreciation, and investment) would require a significant increase in tariffs.
The current government policy is to privatize the management of urban water supplies. Local authorities have contracted private operators over the last 4 years to manage 50 small towns spread across the country under management contracts. After being managed by a contracted multinational company for 2 years, the management of water and sewage services in the Kampala Area (which accounts for 70% of the National Water and Sewage Corporation's (NWSC) activities) has reverted back to the NWSC under the framework of Internally Delegated Management Contracts. The target is to involve the private sector in the down stream activities of operations and managing service delivery.
The private operators have been well received by the public given the significant improvement and reliability of water supply services in the 'privatized' water service areas. Despite all these improvements in service delivery, the water tariffs have remained affordable, partly because of the government subsidies which enable the private operators to break-even. Given the small size of towns and urban centres in most parts of the country, the water supply business is still not very profitable, unless several small towns are 'bundled' into a single management contract to attract potential private operators.
This is an excerpt from the Uganda Case Study Report, an extract of which was included in the case study chapter of the 2nd United Nations World Water Development Report, 'Water, a Shared Responsibility' (WWDR2, 2006).
:: Read more about the Uganda case study
:: Read more about WWAP case studies
WWAP PARTICIPATES
28-29 June 2006: Conference of Elected Representatives of the Mediterranean, Rabat, Morocco
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) jointly organized this Conference. The participants were the Mayors of capitals or their alternates, other elected representatives and focal Points for UNESCO in the Mediterranean Region. The meeting aimed to analyse the means and ways of enhancing their cooperation with UNESCO at local, national and regional levels in order to promote the objectives of the Organization in their local and national agenda and legislation in the Mediterranean Region.
Mr Engin Koncagül, WWAP case studies programme officer, presented the 2nd UN World Water Development Report 'Water, a shared responsibility' (WWDR2, 2006) and its findings to the participants. He stressed the shared conclusion of both WWDR1 and WWDR2 that the water crisis is mainly linked to poor governance and invited participant countries to become case study partners and share their valuable experiences with other countries facing similar water related challenges.
:: Read more about the conference
:: Read more about WWAP case studies
20-26 August: World Water Week, Stockholm, Sweden
The World Water Week in Stockholm is the leading annual global meeting place for experts from businesses, governments, the water management and science sectors, inter-governmental organizations, NGOs, research and training institutions and United Nations agencies.
Mr. Carlos Fernández-Jáuregui, WWAP deputy coordinator, will participate in the seminar on 'the Integrated Water Ressources Management (IWRM) 2005 Target - Indicators of Implementation' organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in cooperation with the Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark on 25 August 2006.
Mr. Fernández-Jáuregui will present the 2nd World Water Development Report, 'Water, a shared responsibility' (WWRD2, 2006) and speak on the development of indicators of IWRM implementation.
:: World Water Week
:: 'The IWRM 2005 Target - Indicators of Implementation' seminar
WWAP PARTNERS
Adoption of the Tunis Declaration to help curb desertification
consequences of desertification to a wider public, within the framework of the International Year of Deserts and Desertification (2006) the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has instituted the International Film Festival Desert Nights: Tales from the Desert with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. The festival will take place in Rome, Italy, from 1 to 7 December 2006.
'Desert Nights' is a non-competitive, specialized film festival that aims to spotlight new films, classics and documentaries from the countries most affected by desertification and also those films and documentaries focusing on the desert, its stories and the most interesting aspects of the cultural environment of arid and desertified areas.
Institutions and individuals wishing to participate should register before 15 October 2006.
:: Read more about the festival
:: Read more about the registration process
New water-related sites added to the World Heritage List
The World Heritage Committee held its 30th session, in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 8 to 16 July 2006. Among the cultural properties inscribed on the World Heritage List on this occasion were several water related sites.
For instance the aflaj irrigation system in Oman includes 3,000 such systems still in use today. Aflaj is the plural of falaj in classical Arabic, which means to divide into shares and equitable sharing of a scarce resource to ensure sustainability and remains the hallmark of this irrigation system. Archaeological evidence suggests that irrigation systems existed in this extremely arid area as early as 2,500 BC.
The Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof in Germany has been an influential trading town since the 9th century AD. Located on the Danube River, it has preserved a notable number of historic structures spanning some two millennia, including its 12th century AD stone bridge.
The Vizcaya Bridge in Spain straddles the mouth of the Ibaizabal estuary west of Bilbao. It was completed in 1893 and was the first bridge in the world to carry people and traffic while allowing for navigation thanks to a high suspended gondola.
:: Read more
FACTS AND FIGURES ON WATER AS A HUMAN RIGHT
- The right to water is already recognized in several legal or political instruments. It guarantees access to water, without discrimination, in a permanent and sustainable manner – and at a socially and economically acceptable cost. It also addresses the issues of subsidiarity, solidarity, and cooperation.
- Increasing recognition is accorded to the right to water, in terms of a human right to a supply of safe water, the role of water rights in helping to deal with local competition for water and in dealing with social, economic and environmental problems.
- Recognizing water as a human right can have a significant impact on national water law, policy, advocacy and development programmes. It can also be a way of promoting an enhanced effort by the international community and local governments to improve water resources management and to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on water supply and sanitation.
- The United Nations affirmed the right to water on 26 November 2002, noting that such a right is 'indispensable for leading a life in human dignity' and 'a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights'.
- Only a few countries have made formal legal commitments to acknowledge a right to water, but even fewer have matched an explicit right to water in their constitutions with actual implementation.
- The Constitution of South Africa states: 'Everyone has the right to have access to sufficient food and water.' Water policies and measures to implement this right in South Africa are now being developed.
- In 2004, a Uruguayan referendum enacted the human right to water into the Constitution when more than 64% of the population voted in favour of the amendment.
- Kenya, in its 2004 draft constitution, is now considering the explicit inclusion of the right to water and sanitation in its legislation.
- The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 provides that every Ugandan is entitled to clean and safe water. The National Water Policy and Water Statute also re-iterate that in allocating water for different uses, first priority should be given to the provision of water of adequate quantity and quality to meet domestic needs.
- Courts in India, Argentina, Brazil and South Africa have, in some cases, reversed decisions to disconnect water supply to poor people who cannot afford to pay.
- So far, the debate on water as a human right has revolved around safe drinking water, but very little on sanitation. Furthermore, basic water needs for direct economic activities, such as agricultural and industrial production, have not been a part of the water as a human right agenda.
:: Facts and figures taken from the 2nd United Nations World Water Development Report, 'Water, a shared responsibility' (WWDR2, 2006).
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