UNESCO-IHE holds Information Meeting on Water Education

On 22 June 2009, UNESCO-IHE presented its contributions to water education to UNESCO Member States Delegates. The briefing was held during an Information Meeting on Water Education at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France.

Mr Marcio Barbosa, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO, opened the meeting by expressing his concerns for water issues around the globe. He addressed the delegates by stating the need of water education and highlighted UNESCO's cross-sectoral efforts over decades.

Barbosa gave a comprehensive overview of the four pillars of UNESCO's freshwater actions working together to deliver water education challenges: WWAP, UNESCO-IHP, UNESCO-IHE and UNESCO water-related centres and chairs. He stressed the importance of UNESCO-IHE's as the largest postgraduate water education facility in the world and the only institution in the UN system authorised to confer accredited degrees. He asked permanent delegates to fully support UNESCO-IHE.

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UNESCO holds a meeting on sanitation and the right to water

On July 7th-8th, IHP through its PCCP associated programme, in cooperation with UNESCO's Social and Human Sciences sector, and UNESCO ETXEA hosted a meeting of thirteen external experts and eight organizers to discuss the human right to water and challenges related to access to safe sanitation. The main objective of the meeting was to elaborate upon recommendations concerning the fulfillment of this right, which will contribute to each of the participating institutions’ ongoing work in this area. To this end, participants discussed the content of the human right to water, strategies and indicators for fulfillment, "good practices." In addition, the outputs of the meeting will contribute to a working document discussing the human right to water that will serve the Member States of UNESCO and will be distributed during its 35th Session of the General Conference.

PCCP creating database of experts and institutions related to transboundary water issues

PCCP (from Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential), UNESCO's programme on water conflicts and cooperation, is currently creating a database of experts and institutions involved in transboundary water issues. The database will include experts, organizations, university programs and other training courses, and will serve as a "clearinghouse" of information related to transboundary waters. The database will offer a quick access to a list of experts and institutions related to transboundary waters, along with their profiles and areas of specialization.

If you are interested in being part of this database, please complete this form. In addition, please list other experts, institutions, or programs that could be included in the database. If you have already completed this form, there is no need to do so again. We apologize if you have already received this message, and appreciate your response.

Please send completed forms and your CV, as well as any questions, to Abdurasul Kayumov at a.kayumov@unesco.org

Due to the number of applications and suggestions we expect to receive, we can only guarantee that the best references will be retained.

Following the requests made by a number of experts, the deadline to send the form has been extended until July 31, 2009.

UNESCO-IHP and partners to host seminar on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers during Stockholm's World Water Week

UNESCO-IHP is organizing, with BGR, IAH and SIWI, a seminar during the World Water Week on "Sharing an Invisible Water Resource for the Common Good: How to Make Use of the UN General Assembly Resolution on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers (TBA)".

Last December, the UN General Assembly adopted the Resolution on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers. The Resolution encourages the Member States concerned 'to make appropriate arrangements for the management of their transboundary aquifers' on the basis of the draft articles prepared by the UN International Law Commission, with technical and scientific advice provided by UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme. The draft articles are included in the annex of the Resolution.

The seminar aims to provide a platform for discussions and considerations on how to make the transition from the adoption of such policies to their implementation into practical, operational actions. The debate will also consider the steps that need to be taken and the positive political implications of taking such steps over 'invisible' resources management.

The Seminar will be held Thursday 20 August 2009 afternoon.

Seminar program

For more information, you can contact: Ms Raya Marina Stephan

Access a complete list of water events around the world

Programme Officer – UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development

Work Assignment:

Under the authority of the Director of UNW-DPC, the selected appointee shall be entrusted with the technical design and implementation of tasks pertaining to UNW-DPC's following four main fields of activity:

1. Improving the strategic and operational coherence of capacity development worldwide by creating a so called 'Capacity Development Observatory':
2. Strengthen technical and policy guidance for capacity development, and contribute to the 'professionalization' of water governance and management, especially with regard to providing procedural and implementation guidelines on IWRM
3. Collaborate with other common UN Water Programmes and UN Water members on issues related to capacity development,
4. Promote capacity development as well as resource mobilization, including the organization of pertinent events and public relations.

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Research Specialist – Public Works Research Institute of Japan/International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM)

The position requires working at ICHARM and providing hydrological education and research supervision to students mainly from developing countries. The position also requires being involved in research in hydrologic statistical analysis under climate change conditions, as well as supporting technological and strategic research in global disaster mitigation.

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Hydrological Extremes in Small Basins

Edited by W. Chelmicki and J. Siwek – IHP-VII – Technical Documents in Hydrology No. 84

This volume, released as IHP-VII Technical Documents in Hydrology N°84 (2009), constitutes the proceedings of the 12th Biennial Conference of the Euromediterranean Network of Representative and Experimental Basins (ERB) held in Krakow, Poland, from 18-20 September 2008. The conference addressed the issue of hydrological extremes in small basins and was organized by the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management of the Jagiellonian University under the umbrella of the IAHS (International Association of Hydrological Sciences), "PUB" initiative (Prediction in Ungauged Basins) and the UNESCO-IHP Northern European FRIEND Project. This volume includes the 24 articles submitted by the authors after the conference, including the text of the keynote presentation.

Full publication [PDF format – 28.5 MB]

• With rapid population growth, water withdrawals have tripled over the last 50 years.
• This trend is explained largely by the rapid increase in irrigation development stimulated by food demand in the 1970s and by the continued growth of agriculture-based economies.

Expected trends over the next 50 years:

• There is still substantial uncertainty on the scale of future demands. Between 2000 and 2050 the world's population is projected to grow from 6 billion to 9 billion, and demand for food and other goods will increase significantly.
• The Mediterranean Action Plan is exploring possible futures for agriculture-based economies that are most vulnerable to anticipated climate change effects.

The section "Did You Know…?" is taken from the 3rd World Water Development Report "Water in a Changing World".

- International Hydrological Programme
- World Water Assessment Programme
- UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
- Water-related Institutes and Centres under the Auspices of UNESCO
- UNESCO Water-related Chairs

Access the UNESCO Water Portal Update archives (starting at issue Nº 85)

For contributions or comments, contact the editor at waterportal@unesco.org