Part I: Setting the Scene

Part I presents the background, starting with an introduction to the water crisis in its many shapes and forms. It then provides a glimpse on the milestones on the long policy road that has brought us to where we stand today, and proposes some tools to help us assess our progress towards building a better future.

Chapter 1 - The World's Water Crisis
Chapter 2 - Milestones
Chapter 3 - Signing Progress: Indicators Mark the Way

Part II: A Look at the World's Freshwater Resources

Solid, vapour and liquid, water is diverse by its very nature. For the Earth 's inhabitants, this diversity also means great disparities in well-being and development. This part provides a brief look at the current state of freshwater, in all the world's regions.

Chapter 4 - The Natural Water Cycle
Lead agencies: UNESCO and WMO

Part III: Challenges to Life and Well-Being

This section explores the ways in which we use water and the increasing demands we are placing on the resource. [Further details on these challenges are available online]

Chapter 5 - Basic Needs and the Right to Health
Lead agency: WHO
Collaborating agency: UNICEF
Chapter 6 - Protecting Ecosystems for People and Planet
Lead agency: UNEP
Collaborating agencies: UNECE / WHO / UNCBD / UNESCO / UNDESA / UNU
Chapter 7 - Competing Needs in an Urban Environment
Lead agencies: UN – HABITAT
Collaborating agencies: WHO and UNDESA
Chapter 8 - Securing Food for a Growing World Population
Lead agency: FAO
Collaborating agencies: WHO / UNEP / IAEA
Chapter 9 - Promoting Cleaner Industry for Everyone's Benefit
Lead agency: UNIDO
Collaborating agencies: WHO and UNDESA
Chapter 10 - Developing Energy to Meet Development Needs
Lead agency: UNIDO
Collaborating agencies: WHO / UNEP / Regional Commissions / World Bank

Part IV: Management Challenges: Stewardship and Governance

This section examines the ways in which the competing needs, uses and demands elucidated in the previous part might be met. It discusses a few of the any tools available to decision-makers and communities to help them mould policy and practice so as to encourage an efficient and equitable use of the resource. [Further details on these challenges are available online]

Chapter 11 - Mitigating Risk and Coping with Uncertainty
Lead agency: WMO
Collaborating agencies: UNDESA / UNESCO / WHO / UNEP / ISDR / CCD / CBD / Regional Commissions
Chapter 12 - Sharing Water: Defining a Common Interest
Lead agency: UNESCO Collaborating agencies: Regional Commissions
Chapter 13 - Recognizing and Valuing the Many Faces of Water
Lead agency: UNDESA
Collaborating agencies: UNECE and World Bank
Chapter 14 - Ensuring the Knowledge Base: A Collective Responsibility
Lead agencies: UNESCO and WMO
Collaborating agencies: UNDESA / IAEA / World Bank / UNEP / UNU
Chapter 15 - Governing Water Wisely for Sustainable Development
Lead agency: UNDP
Collaborating agencies: FAO / UNEP / UNCBD / Regional Commissions

Part V: Pilot Case Studies: A Focus on Real-World Examples

This section checks the accuracy of the big picture on the basis of snapshots of water in the field. Seven case studies are presented here, to observe the effectiveness of different approaches to integrated management and to test our indicators for measuring progress. [Further details on these case studies are available online].

Chapter 16 - Chao Phraya River Basin, Thailand
Office of Natural Water Resources Committee of Thailand (ONWRC)
Chapter 17 - Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe-Pskovskoe, Estonia and the Russian Federation
Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, and the Ministry of the Environment of Estonia
Chapter 18 - Ruhuna Basins, Sri Lanka
Ministry of Irrigation and Water Management of Sri Lanka
Chapter 19 - Seine-Normandy Basin, France
Water Agency of Seine-Normandy (AESN, Agence de l’Eau Seine-Normandie)
Chapter 20 - Senegal River Basin, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal
Organization for the Development of the Senegal River
(OMVS, Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du Fleuve du Sénégal)
Chapter 21 - Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia and Peru
Binational Autonomous Authority of Lake Titicaca
(ALT, Autoridad Binacional del Lago Titicaca Perú-Bolivia)
Chapter 22 - Greater Tokyo, Japan
National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management - Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan (NILIM-MLIT)

Part VI: Management Challenges: Stewardship and Governance

This section concludes the Report by putting together the pieces that make up the giant puzzle of factors contributing to today 's global water situation. Many country tables are included in the chapter.

Chapter 23 - The World's Water Crisis: Fitting the Pieces Together

Annexes