100 New Commitments Pour in as Water Forum Closes

KYOTO, Japan, March 24, 2003 (ENS) - Water demand is increasing three times as fast as the world's population growth rate, and poverty is the single most important factor related to meeting that demand, said officials at the 3rd World Water Forum, which wound up eight days of meetings on Sunday. More than 100 new commitments towards bringing safe water and sanitation to the entire world were made by delegates to the Forum.

William Cosgrove, vice president of the World Water Council, addresses Forum delegates. (Photo courtesy IISD)

Key issues revolved around balancing increasing human requirements for adequate water supplies and better health and sanitation with food production, transportation, energy and environmental needs. In all, 351 separate sessions were held on 38 interlocking themes dealing with water including more effective governance, improved capacity and adequate financing.

A speaker told Forum delegates that the world spends 40 times more for petroleum each year than it invests in water and sanitation infrastructure and maintenance.

French delegate Olivier Bommelaer of the Seine-Normandy River Basin Organization said that "globally $25 billion, or 0.08 percent of global gross domestic product, is invested in water supply and sanitation infrastructure each year. With operation and maintenance, "the total budget of water supply and sanitation is around $165 billion. Just compare this to world oil budget - $ 7 trillion." This estimate was based on a world petroleum price of $25 per barrel, which has now jumped to $35.

The delegates agreed that community level public participation is fundamental to turning the new commitments into realities, and that the "common basic requirement for water is an opportunity for cooperation and peace."

"I have talked with hundreds of participants in sessions and in the corridors," said William Cosgrove, vice president of the World Water Council, one of the main conveners of the World Water Forums, which are held every three years in a different host country.

The Kamo River flows through Kyoto (Photo courtesy Karen TenEyck)

Opening the ministerial portion of the Forum on Saturday, World Water Day, Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Chikage Oogi identified population growth as one of the most serious challenges in securing water and food supplies. Noting that 2003 is the the United Nations International Year of Freshwater, she urged the delegates to move, "from promise to practice, from commitment to concrete projects, and from intent to implementation."

Oogi presented the Portfolio of Water Actions, a list of some 400 voluntary actions offered by governments to deal with and resolve issues of water scarcity, purity, and sanitation.

Ryutaro Hashimoto, who chaired the National Steering Committee of the Forum, emphasized that the Ministerial Declaration should address the reconstruction of water infrastructure in Iraq and the water and sanitation needs of internally displaced people impacted by the military action.

Green Cross International President Mikhail Gorbachev (Photo courtesy IISD)

Gorbachev urged enshrinement of the right to water in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Several delegates, including the International Development Research Centre, a public corporation created by the Canadian government, stated that water is not a commodity, but a human right.

Some 1.2 billion people lack a safe water supply and 2.4 billion live without secure sanitation, according to Water Forum official figures. At least five million people die yearly from water related diseases, including 2.2 million children under the age of five.

An estimated one half of people in developing countries are suffering from diseases caused either directly by infection through the consumption of contaminated water or food, or indirectly by disease carrying organisms, such as mosquitoes, that breed in water.

To solve these immense problems and meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without safe drinking water and basic sanitation, urgent action as well as words is needed, delegates agreed.

"The 3rd World Water Forum has become a truly action oriented conference," said Kenzo Hiroki, vice secretary general of the Forum. "It is well established that investments in water resources management and the delivery of water services are central to poverty reduction. We believe that concrete actions plans will come out of the Forum that when put into effect will make a real difference in the lives of the poor."

The Forum's Organizing Committee issued a final statement, in which the Committee agreed that they will be "solemnly committed to facing the global water challenges and to meeting the goals set forth at the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in New York, 2000," Cosgrove said.

Girl draws water from a public well in northern India. (Photo courtesy FAO)

In its statement, the Committee pointed out that though increasing water use efficiency through developments in science and technology and improved demand management are essential, these measures alone may not be sufficient to meet the growing demand for water in most developing regions and particularly in cities.

"All options to augment the available water supply, including increased storage through the use of groundwater recharge and dams, need to be considered, ensuring that all those who will be affected will also benefit," the final statement said. "The recommendations from the World Commission on Dams (2002) can be used as a reference. A wider adoption of good practice is required in order to avoid the environmental and social costs and risks of the past."

Agreements reached at the 3rd World Water Forum include:

• A broad consortium of organizations, including United Nations agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Water Counci, the World Meteorological Organization, the UN Environment Programme, UNESCO, the UN Development Programme, and the World Bank, which supported the International Dialogue on Water and Climate, are committed to continue building bridges between the climate and water sector, and develop activities to better cope with climate impacts. These organizations will form an International Water and Climate Alliance. The relationship of climate to water supply accounted for more than 20 commitments made at the Forum.

• The United Nations Development Programme has committed to creating a Community Water Initiative, aimed at building on the power of local communities to solve their own water and sanitation challenges. The initiative will provide innovative communities with small grants to expand and improve their solutions. The Community Water Initiative has an estimated target budget of $50 million for 2003-2008.

• Through the Indigenous Peoples Kyoto Water Declaration, the indigenous participants of the 3rd World Water Forum commit themselves to forming a network on water issues that will strengthen the voice of indigenous people generally, and help empower local communities struggling to protect their water rights.

• The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan has supported the establishment of the International Flood Network, launched during the Third World Water Forum for flood mitigation. The network's Global Flood Warning System project offers the capacity to create the precipitation maps all over the world every three hours. As a result, flood warnings in the world will be vastly improved, benefiting up to 4.8 billion people.

  

  Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, executive director of UN-Habitat and Asian Development Bank President Tadao Chino signed a memo of understanding on the Asian Cities Partnership (Photo courtesy IISD)

• A Water and Poverty Initiative, led by Asian Development Bank, is being developed with collaborating partner organizations for the 3rd World Water Forum. The bank on Wednesday signed an agreement with UN Habitat on Water for Asian Cities Program, which will provide $500 million in loans over five years. The bank signed a parallel agreement with the Cities Alliance Program, which will provide an initial $500,000 in grants for urban poor water supply and sanitation improvements, leveraged against community commitments. Additional funding for Water for Asian Cities has also been made available to UN-HABITAT by the government of Netherlands.

• A program to precisely identify the benefits brought by sound water management and provide governments with appropriate tools and analysis to be considered in priority setting, planning, development, management, and budgeting for the water sector is one commitment made by the World Water Council. The program will be developed with a consortium of International financial institutions, UN agencies, international non-governmental organizations, and research institutions.

• UNESCO and the World Water Council committed themselves to promote, develop and support the establishment and operation of an independent, easily accessible facility that can help solve problems related to trans-boundary waters by providing on request access to experienced technical advisers, tools, training sessions and mediators.

• Several international organizations and research institutes are committed to financing and continuing to develop Virtual Water, a website that simulates an actual conference environment. It provides a discussion platform involving people around the world beyond time, region and language barriers, using the latest computer technology and the Internet. It aims to provide governments with information and tools to utilize virtual water trade as an integral part of any government's national and regional water, food and environmental policies.

• The Water and Sanitation Program of the World Bank committed itself to funding national capacity building projects for monitoring the achievement of Millenium Development Goals. Candidate countries are welcome to apply.

• PricewaterhouseCoopers, UN Water and Care International commit to a Global Water Initiative, to bring a substantial contribution to the Millenium Development Goals. It will start soon with a pilot project in Africa supported by the French Government, with results by the end of the year 2003.

• Australia commits over A$80 million in the current financial year for water activities, primarily in countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

• Caribbean and Pacific organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding to implement the Joint Program for Action among 37 member states, providing for cooperation on enhancing the freshwater environment, capacity building, data and information management, applied research, and sharing of expertise.

• The Netherlands will concentrate its support to Africa and assist 10 countries in the development of their national water and sanitation plans. Further, it is committed to support the African Water Facility.

• The European Commission is committed through EUREAU to include benchmarking into the EU Water Initiative.

  

  The Mekong River flows past Myanmar (Burma). (Photo by Wolfgang Schlor courtesy Siam Bike Travel)

• The Mekong River Commission, with the governments of Cambodia, Laos PDR, Thailand and Vietnam, will prepare a navigation strategy and program by the end of 2003 to develop sustainable, effective and safe navigation on the Mekong, and to increase the international trade opportunities for the mutual benefit of the Commission's member countries.

Many countries face a governance crisis, rather than a water crisis, the Forum's final statement said. "Good water governance requires effective and accountable socio-political and administrative systems adopting an integrated water resources management approach with transparent and participatory processes that address ecological and human needs."

The need for capacity building, education and access to information for better water management is unquestioned, the Forum said in its final statement. But these critical elements of the water development process are often given short shrift.

Participation of many sectors of the population is also given little attention, and the Forum participants stressed the need for a closer examination of participation based on race, ethnicity, economic status, age, and religion to ensure inclusiveness. Large segments of society, especially women and the poor, are not given a voice in shaping water policy. Major groups including CEOs, unions, indigenous people, water journalists, parliamentarians, youth and children, the Forum acknowledged, all have a point of view and deserve the right to be heard.

World Water Council president Cosgrove presented the three winners of the Water Action Contest each with a $15,000 prize. The winners are: Gansu Research Institute for Water Conservancy, China; Technology Transfer Division, Bombas de Mecate, Nicaragua; and Voluntary Action for Development, Uganda.