Water Day at the Barcelona Climate Change Talks

On 3rd November a 'Water Day' will be held alongside the Climate Change negotiations in Barcelona. The day is being convened by the GPPN - a partnership of Stakeholder Forum and Stockholm International Water Institute – in collaboration with UN Water.

The day will show that water is a critical and cross-cutting concern for climate change adaptation and mitigation. There will be six sessions which will focus on climate change and a range of water-related issues: Water and Livelihoods; Water, Ecosystems and Forests; Water and Land; Water and Regional/transboundary cooperation; Water and Land; Water and Gender; Water and Energy.

The sessions will bring together water experts and advocates from across the governmental, non-governmental and intergovernmental spheres – including UN Water, the Global Water Partnership, WWF, IUCN, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Freshwater Action Network (FAN) and many more.

The day seeks to build further support for a Copenhagen outcome that clearly recognises the importance of water for tackling climate change, and includes strong and action-orientated text to this end. The day will also stimulate discussion on the post-Copenhagen international policy agenda on water and climate change.

Venue: Fira Congress Hotel.

Lunch will be provided at 12.15 pm.

WWAP participates in the Water Caucus in Marseille, France, 14 October

The Water Caucus, hosted by the World Water Council (WWC), took place on 14 October in Marseille, France on the eve of the Council’s General Assembly (15–16 October). The Caucus provided a debate platform for Council members and partners to discuss leadership in crisis situations. More than 250 participants from organizations working on issues of water for development, growth and human security were present.

Olcay Ünver, WWAP Coordinator, accepted the WWC’s invitation to moderate the afternoon workshop on "Transboundary Futures", for which Dipak Gyawali, Vice-Chair of the WWAP Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) delivered the keynote speech. William J. Cosgrove, Content Manager for the UN World Water Development Report and former President of the World Water Council, was the moderator for the morning plenary interactive panel debate on "Urban Urgency" and for the plenary wrap-up and closing session.

The Water Caucus also provided a welcome opportunity for attendees to interact and actively engage in each other’s work. WWAP representatives shared their activities, in particular the preparations towards the 4th edition of the UN World Water Development Report, to be launched at the 6th World Water Forum in March 2012, and discussed the importance of contributions from partner groups and their involvement in its production. WWAP and the WWC already work closely together and intend to strengthen this relationship as we move towards the 6th Forum, which will be held in Marseille and co-organized by the WWC and the host country, France.

For more information about the Water Caucus and the WWC General Assembly, please visit the WWC website.

Josefina Maestu Appointed as New Coordinator at the United Nations Office to Support the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005–2015

WWAP would like to extend our congratulations and a warm welcome to Ms Josefina Maestu, who began her appointment on 15 September as the new Coordinator of our sister programme, the United Nations Office to Support the International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' 2005–2015 (UNO-IDfA).

Based in Zaragoza, Spain and hosted and led by UNDESA, UNO-IDfA is responsible for communication, information and awareness-raising activities for UN-Water and the ‘Water for Life’ Decade. The primary goal of the Decade is to promote efforts to fulfil international commitments on water-related issues by 2015, including those related to the Millennium Development Goals.

Prior to her appointment, Ms Maestu, a national of Spain, served as Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs. Recently she has represented Spain on the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development and played an active role in Spain’s successful bid for the 2010 EU Presidency. Ms Maestu has had an extended professional career in the field of water and in international relations, national civil servant positions and international advisor consultancies.

‘I am looking forward to working closely with all of the UN agencies to support Member States in reaching the Millennium and Water Decade goals in water and sanitation,’ said Ms. Maestu. ‘We cannot forget the importance of water. Water and sanitation are crucial for sustainable development and indispensable for human health and well-being – water is essential for life!’

Please visit the UNO-IDfA website for a press release concerning the appointment or to learn more about the Office and its new Coordinator.

24-25 September 2009: International Media Consultation on Water and Climate Change, Zaragoza, Spain

In the framework of its programmes and objectives, the United Nations Office to Support the International Decade for Action "Water for life" 2005-2015 (UNO-IDfA), based in Zaragoza Spain, organizes a seminar on the Role of the Information and Communication Community in Enabling Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in Water Resources Management.

The international seminar responds to UNO-IDfA’s commitment to improve information and raise awareness on the Water Decade issues. Good practices for information and effective communication strategies will be discussed by international opinion makers from print and audiovisual media, internationally-renowned experts on adaptation to climate change, UN representatives and communicators and UNSGAB representatives. Plenary sessions will be followed by working group sessions, technical visits and an open session.

For further information (programme, background note) please visit www.un.org/waterforlifedecade

WWAP launched four new Side Publications at the World Water Week in Stockholm, August 2009

WWAP is happy to announce the launch of four new publications in its Side Publications series. During the Stockholm World Water Week WWAP held a side event on August 17th , 2009 to share these new publications and to provide presentations on several of the publications in the series. WWAP’s Side Publications are original contributions from prominent partner organizations, produced in parallel to the UN World Water Development Report. They proved more focused, in-depth information, scientific background knowledge, policy guidelines and interface with other, less conventional water sectors. The four new additions to the Side Publications series are:

• Freshwater Biodiversity versus Anthropogenic Climate Change, by Luc Vescovi, Dominique Berteaux, David Bird and Sylvie de Blois, SCIENTIFIC PAPERS SERIES
• The Impacts of Global Change on Erosion and Sediment Transport by Rivers: Current Progress and Future Challenges, by Desmond E. Walling, Department of Geography, University of Exeter, for the International Sediment Initiative of IHP UNESCO, SCIENTIFIC PAPERS SERIES
• Freshwater and International Law: The Interplay between Universal, Regional and Basin Perspectives, by Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, INSIGHTS SERIES
• Introduction to the IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level, by UNESCO-IHP and the Network of Asian River Basin Organizations (NARBO), DIALOGUE SERIES

During the side event, participants were invited to take CD-Roms and hard copies of the side publications, and to hear presentations on three of the publications in the series. Olcay Unver, WWAP Coordinator, and Marwa Daoudy, WWAP Side Publications Coordinator, provided introductory presentations to WWAP’s work, the UN World Water Development Report and WWAP’s Side Publications series. They were followed by Adeel Zafar, Director of UNU-INWEH, who presented "Seeing Traditional Technologies in a New Light: Using Traditional Approaches for Water Management in Drylands," by UNU-INWEH (launched March 2009). Next, Lynette de Silva, Associate Director of the Department of Geosciences at the Oregon State University provided a presentation on "Updating the international water events database," by UNESCO PCCP and Oregon State University (launched March 2009). Lastly, Eugene Stakhiv, US Army Corps of Engineers presented the new paper "Introduction to the IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level," by UNESCO-IHP and the Network of Asian River Basin Organizations (NARBO). The presentations were followed by a lively question and answer session, and helpful suggestions for the direction of future research projects on key issues, sectors, topics and debates relating to water.

Please visit our Side Publications webpage to learn more, or to download these and other publications (in English).

UN-Water Votes on Direction for the Fourth edition of the UN World Water Development Report

During the 11th meeting of UN-Water in Stockholm, Sweden, held from 15 – 16 August, the members of UN-Water endorsed the new direction for the fourth edition of the UN World Water Development Report (WWDR-4) proposed by the World Water Assessment Programme. The new Report, to be launched in March 2012, will have a thematic focus on "Managing Water under Uncertainty and Risk", with a new structure that includes challenge area reports and regional perspectives.

On 14 August, WWAP held a workshop during which 39 UN-Water members and partners discussed the recent launch, distribution and reception of the third edition of the UN World Water Development Report as well as plans for preparation of the fourth Report. WWAP presented for discussion amongst participants a proposal on the focus, structure and contents for the fourth Report, backed by the findings of multiple surveys of stakeholders and UN-Water members and partners. Partners and members also considered potential roles and contributions to the Report, in particular to challenge areas reports and regional perspectives.

The next day, 15 August, the members of UN-Water met to take a formal decision: they agreed that the Report will focus on "Managing Water under Uncertainty and Risk" and will be launched in March 2012 on the occasion of the sixth World Water Forum to be held in Marseilles, France.

To learn more about the WWDR-3, "Water in a Changing World", please see our webpage on the WWDR-3.

WWAP Headquarters at the Villa La Colombella in Perugia, Italy

The WWAP Secretariat is happy to announce that its offices have transferred to Perugia, Italy. The Umbrian Region has generously assigned UNESCO the use of the Villa La Colombella in the municipality of Perugia. WWAP has now based its headquarters at the Villa, where it also hosts capacity-building activities and other events jointly with partner organizations. WWAP is pleased to present its new facilities in Perugia and to share this beautiful, historic site with the extended international water community. Partner organisations are welcome to hold water-related events in WWAP premises. Please visit our "WWAP Headquarters" page to learn more.