WHAT'S HAPPENING AT WWAP?
 WWAP AT THE STOCKHOLM WATER SYMPOSIUM
The Stockholm Water Symposium, held from August 11 to 14 in Stockholm, Sweden, brought together members of the international community to examine issues relating to balancing production, trade and water use in drainage basins. The discussions targeted competition between upstream and downstream water use and quality, and water for biodiversity, ecosystems and humans.
Some 1,000 water experts from around the world attended the event, among them WWAP coordinator Gordon Young, who gave a presentation on the programme focusing on integrated water resources management from the UN perspective.
For more information, contact wwap@unesco.org.
Read more about the World Water Development Report (WWDR).
OUTCOMES OF THE DUSHANBE INTERNATIONAL FRESH WATER FORUM
This international event was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from August 29 to September 1st, to increase public awareness of issues relating to freshwater and to encourage action at all levels. More than 500 people from 53 countries participated, and Gordon Young, WWAP's coordinator, presented the programme and participated in a panel discussion on water-related issues.
A document was drafted during the ministerial segment of the forum. The Dushanbe Water Appeal reiterates the importance of freshwater resources and calls on the United Nations, governments, organizations and stakeholders to commit themselves more fully to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the targets agreed upon in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. The Appeal also invites the United Nations to declare 2005-2015 the International Decade of 'Water for Life'.
For more information visit the official site of the Freshwater Forum or contact waterforum@tojikiston.com.
Read the Millennium Development Goals
Read the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
A major international conference will be held in Dushanbe on 20-22 November: 'Water is the basis of life and human existence'.
6TH WATER INFORMATION SUMMIT
The 6th Water Information Summit was held in Delft, the Netherlands, from September 9 to 12. Focusing on strategies to overcome the 'digital divide' between North and South, the international gathering was organized by the International Water and Sanitation Centre and the Water Web Consortium.
One of main discussion topics at the summit was the future of water portals, web-based interactive sites that make it easy to find water-related web sites. Other themes this year included:
- Use of information by different target groups;
- The role of information in reducing health and poverty;
- Information, water and gender;
- Closing the 'digital divide'; and
- Implementation of actions relating to water information taken at the 3rd World Water Forum.
Two WWAP members attended the summit, deputy coordinator Carlos Fernandez-Jauregui and web specialist Pilar Gonzalez, to present the Water Portal of the Americas project and participate in a Knowledge Management Workshop held from September 15 to 17. The coordinators of the African and Latin American water portals, now in development, also participated.
For more information visit the official site or contact p.gonzalez@unesco.org.
MONITORING TAILOR-MADE IV CONFERENCE
Co-organized by WWAP, the 4th Monitoring Tailor-Made conference was held in the Netherlands from September 15 to 18 to discuss issues dealing with the collection and dissemination of information in the water arena. The aim of these conferences is to turn water monitoring data into water policies.
The themes for the 2003 conference included:
- Water assessment programmes and international cooperation;
- The roles and sources of information;
- Indicators for integrated assessment;
- Public participation in monitoring; and
- Monitoring practices.
WWAP's indicator specialist Bhanu Neupane gave a presentation on indicator requirements for and lessons learned from elaborating the World Water Development Report, while coordinator Gordon Young discussed integrated water resources management.
The conference was co-organized by the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management of the Netherlands, the Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment, the National Institute for Coastal and Marine Management and the International Water Assessment Centre of the Netherlands.
For more information visit the official site or contact b.neupane@unesco.org.
WHAT'S NEW ON THE WEBSITE?
FACTS AND FIGURES ON VALUING WATER
A page of facts and figures on valuing water taken from the World Water Development Report (WWDR) has been added. You can access information on:
- Water pricing in both developed and developing countries;
- Estimates for financing the Millennium Development Goals;
- The value of ecosystems;
- The religious value of water; and
- Key concepts relating to valuing water.
Access the page on valuing water.
Read more on valuing water from the executive summary of the Report.
Order the Report online.
NATIONAL PARTNERS
ETHIOPIA: DISTRIBUTION OF WATER SANITIZATION EQUIPMENT
Water purifying equipment is being distributed in eight of the most drought-stricken regions of Ethiopia by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), thanks to funding from the Norwegian Government. An estimated 4.2 million people in Ethiopia are in urgent need of clean water, and the end of the rainy season will increase water source contamination, heightening the risk of water-related disease. Some 12.6 million people are affected by the drought, and more than 2 million are threatened by malnutrition.
Ethiopia is one of WWAP's case study countries for the second World Water Development Report, due for publication in 2006.
The country will also be host to the Pan-African Water Conference in December 2003.
Ethiopia at a glance:
- 67 million inhabitants;
- Total renewable water resources: 1,749 km3/capita/year;
- 44.2% of the population beneath the national poverty line.
For more information on Ethiopia's case study participation, contact jm.barrat@unesco.org.
SRI LANKA: NEW GRANARY AREA PROGRAMME
Starting in 2004, the Government of Sri Lanka has agreed to implement the new Granary Area Programme (GAP), which has been in preparation for the last three years. The programme is expected to increase rice crops and farmers' incomes in a sustainable manner over a five-year period.
Granary areas will spread over 267,000 hectares, representing some 49% of the total irrigated area, in seven regions selected on the basis of their potential productivity. Under the programme's agricultural extension and irrigation management initiatives, the paddy yield and cropping intensity of the area should improve, producing 85% of the country's rice requirements.
After five years and under the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, these developments will be sustained through partnerships between farmer organizations, the private sector and the government. The Ministry of Irrigation and Water Management, which was responsible for developing the WWAP case study on the Ruhuna basins for the first World Water Development Report, is also involved in the GAP.
Current food security levels are low in Sri Lanka, increasing the programme's importance. In an effort to combat the situation, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an initiative that provides free food for 33,000 school children, with plans to extend it to 170,000 children next year. The WFP initiative is aimed at former war-torn regions of the country.
For more information on GAP, contact imbulana@eureka.lk.
Read more on the WWAP Ruhuna basins case study in Sri Lanka.
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