World Water Week Holds Out Hope for the Future

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, August 11, 2003 (ENS) - Some two million tons of waste are dumped into rivers, lakes and streams each day, and at least seven million people die each year of waterborne diseases, according to the first global, comprehensive United Nations evaluation of world water resources published in March. With those facts in mind, water experts and stakeholders from more than 100 countries are meeting in Stockholm for the annual World Water Week to consider these problems and devise solutions.

The annual forum has more urgency than usual this year as the United Nations has designated 2003 as the International Year of Freshwater. By the year 2050, seven billion people in 60 countries may be facing water scarcity, UN water experts warn.

Garbage pollutes a canal running through a rural slum area of Jakarta. (Photo courtesy FAO)

Today at noon, on the opening day of the Stockholm Water Symposium, the 3rd World Water Forum launched its Final Report.

"The most far reaching decisions were reached at the 3rd World Water Forum, which eventually will result in water improvements down to the village level," said William Cosgrove, vice-president of the World Water Council, one of the conveners of the 3rd World Water Forum, held in Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka, Japan in March.

Attended by more than 24,000 participants from 183 countries and territories, the 3rd World Water Forum was the largest and most successful international water conference ever held, organizers said. "This was the most comprehensive water meeting ever, and participants made more than 100 new commitments on water projects during the eight days of meetings," said Cosgrove.

The National Steering Committee of the 3rd World Water Forum, the World Water Council and the Global Water Partnership agreed at the Forum to initiate the establishment and development of knowledge exchange mechanisms among industrialized nations. The goal is to facilitate the development of national and regional networks to exchange experiences and good practices of water resources management. This network would be linked with the networks of poorer nations to promote exchange of knowledge and experience.

Woman waters a communal garden in Vietnam. (Photo courtesy FAO)

The Global Water Partnership will encourage and be available as resource for facilitation and advice in the establishment of partnerships in developed countries. Partnership participants will collect, synthesize and disseminate lessons on developing good water management practices.

The National Steering Committee of the 3rd World Water Forum will establish the Japan Water Forum that will act as a "secretariat of partnership" and collaborate with partners on strategic water related subjects.

These activities will be financed through a core support from existing sources supplemented with joint fund raising for specific activities and programs, according to the Final Report released today.

"The Final Report collates and analyzes all the achievements of the 3rd Forum and sets out a road map for transforming their decisions into reality," Cosgrove said.

The River Brathay in Cumbria, England runs clear. (Photo courtesy FreeFoto)

On Sunday, 120 participants met to discuss how to make the year old Africa-EU Strategic Water Partnership a functioning reality that can address the range of water problems facing Africa.

Convincing water ministers and finance ministers that water has a fundamental role in overall economic development, and should be included in their poverty reduction strategies will help African governments to access funding, participants agreed. At the same time donors must increase financial support, and the proposed European and African Water Facilities could be mechanisms for this, they said.

Young water professionals from around the world met on Sunday and discussed how subsidies and trade barriers imposed by industrialized countries are influencing the income generating capacity of millions of people in developing countries. Better local governance, fewer trade barriers and viable options for local farmers will help to improve the situation, the participants said.

The 2003 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate is Professor Peter Wilderer of Germany, who has promoted and developed holistic, interdisciplinary research for more than 30 years in the pursuit of sustainable water use and sanitation.

A professor at the Technical University of Munich, Wukderer serves also as Director of the Institute of Advanced Studies on Sustainability. His contributions to basic discoveries now applied in modern biofilm reactors enable treatment facilities worldwide to clean wastewater from homes, business and industries, and return it safely every day for reuse in the water cycle.

The Stockholm Water Prize is an international environmental award presented by the Stockholm Water Foundation annually in honor of outstanding achievements in science, engineering, technology, education or public policy related to protection of the world's water resources.

Professor Peter Wilderer is 2003 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate (Photo courtesy Institute of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts)

Professor Wilderer was one of the first researchers to question the sustainability of transferring Western sanitary concepts, with their traditional emphasis on centralized, large scale solutions used in big cities, to the rest of the world. He recognized and promoted early the importance of decentralized, cost effective small scale wastewater treatment and reuse of water.

Zenon Environmental Inc., an environmental technology company that has developed an energy efficient, innovative, compact and forward-looking membrane concept, is the 2003 recipient of the prestigious Stockholm Industry Water Award.

Dr. Andrew Benedek, chairman and CEO of Zenon, will receive the award on behalf of the company from Stockholm Water Foundation Chairman Stig Larsson during the Founders Luncheon on Wednesday.

Efforts to solve the world's water problems will not end when World Water Week comes to a close. The Dushanbe Fresh Water Forum to be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan from August 29 through September 1 will be a platform for the countries of the world to share their views as to how to create the conditions needed to improve the management of water resources for next generations.