2009

August 2009

WWAP invites you to join us at the 2009 World Water Week

The World Water Week in Stockholm is an annual meeting place for the world's most urgent water-related issues, bringing together experts, practitioners, decision makers and leaders from around the globe. This year WWAP will host a number of events and will hold an exhibit with information on our most recent World Water Development Report and related publications. These events include a side event which looks towards the development of the fourth report, called "Building on the 3rd UN World Water Development Report: Water in a Changing World", and a side event launching four new side publications.

Read more

July 2009

WWAP contributes a concept paper to the 2009 G8 Summit to be held from 8 to 10 July in Abruzzo, Italy

The World Water Assessment Programme prepared a concept paper "Water – the blue web that unites us" has as a contribution to the preparatory process for the G8 summit to be held from 8 to 10 July 2009 in L’Aquila, Italy.

The 2009 meeting of the G8 in Italy comes a few months after the launch of the 3rd edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report, Water in a Changing World, on 16 March 2009 during the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul (read more).

The out-of-the box approach of the Report, and the explicit and implicit links between water and the agenda items of the G8 Summit make the messages of this concept paper particularly relevant.

A draft version of the paper and its findings had been presented by Olcay Unver, Coordinator of the World Water Assessment Programme at the G8 Experts Group Meeting on Water and Sanitation held at WWAP headquarters in Perugia, Italy from 27–29 April.

The paper proposes actions in the following seven areas:

• making water policies more coherent;
• adapting water to climate change;
• recognizing water as an international and a global issue;
• putting water onto a sound financial footing;
• taking into account information, evidence and image;
• considering points particularly relevant to sustainable, self-reliant development in Africa; and
• the potential role for UN-Water and the World Water Assessment Programme.

We would like to thank James Winpenny, of Wychwood Economic Consulting, UK, for his contribution to the production of this paper.

Download the concept paper "Water – the blue web that unites us" [PDF – 1.84MB]

May 2009

New Messages Series, based on the findings of the WWDR-3

The third edition of the World Water Development Report: "Water in a Changing World" provides decision makers with the tools to implement sustainable use of our water – offering best practices to help stimulate ideas and actions for better stewardship of this most essential resource. However, government, business, civil society and a host of other actors all make decisions which have implications on water use. In an effort to ensure this diverse group of actors understand how their decisions have an impact, WWAP has produced 10 four-page "Messages" based on the findings of the WWDR-3 targeted at different groups of influential decision makers. These short brochures illustrate how the findings of the WWDR relate to their particular areas of interest and their stakeholders, and suggest ways they could incorporate these findings into their own activities. WWAP will be releasing more of these targeted Messages soon. For more information on this series, please see our webpage on the Messages of the WWDR-3

17th Session of the UN CSD: WWAP session on ‘Water in a Changing World: Findings of the new World Water Development Report’

The seventeenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-17), located at the United Nations headquarters in New York, began Monday, May 4th and will last until Friday, May 15th, 2009. During the activities of the CSD, delegates will consider the CSD’s thematic cluster for 2008/2009 - agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa.

On Wednesday May 13th, the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) will host a side event on "Water in a Changing World: Findings of the new World Water Development Report", which will address the CSD’s current thematic cluster in the context of water, a topic also covered by the CSD in previous years. WWAP will describe the food and agriculture-related findings and messages of its new report. The President of the World Water Council has also been invited to convey the messages of the Fifth World Water Forum and the way forward. In addition, WWAP partner DHI/UNEP will report on a WWDR3 case study in Zambia, in particular the successes in terms of IWRM/water governance in national policy as well as the challenges of data and indicators. The session will take place from 1:15 – 2:45 pm in Conference Room 6 of the UN headquarters. We hope that the panel speeches and the subsequent Q&A session will provide mutually reinforcing messages from the water community to the participants of the CSD-17.

In addition to this event, WWAP will be a contributor to a side event organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey and the World Water Council (WWC) on Thursday, May 7th, titled "5th World Water Forum - Water Management Adaptation Strategies to the global changes". (1:15-2:45 PM Conference Room 6)  The political products of the 5th World Water Forum and the third edition of the World Water Development Report (WWDR-3) focus on the impact of global changes such as population growth, land use changes, urbanization, economic expansion and climate change on water resources. They also make a call for accelerating coverage and investments for basic human water needs especially safe and clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, food, energy and mitigation of floods and droughts.  During this event, attendees will hear presentations from the World Water Council on the political products and results of the 5th World Water Forum; from WWAP on the messages of the WWDR-3 in the context of the CSD’s major themes and on the way forward, regarding scenario development and second generation of indicators; and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey on possible responses to the global challenges.

For more information on these events or to collect related WWAP materials, come visit the UN-Water stand in the conference hall at the CSD.  For more information on the CSD-17, including material and power point presentations from the events, please see the UN website on the CSD-17.

April 2009

G8 Water and Sanitation Experts meet at WWAP Headquarters in Perugia, Italy from 27-29 April 2009

The fourth meeting of water and sanitation experts from the Group of Eight (G8) countries was held at WWAP Headquarters in Perugia, Italy from 27 to 29 April 2009.

The event was co-hosted by WWAP, the Region of Umbria and the Perugia University for Foreigners. Mr. Lamberto Bottini, Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Umbria Region and Prof. Roberto Chionne, Director of the University’s Water Resources Research and Documentation Centre (WARREDOC), welcomed the participants.

Mr. Olcay Unver, Coordinator of WWAP greeted the participants on behalf of the Chair of UN-Water, Mr. Pasquale Steduto, and the Director of UNESCO Water Division, Mr. Andras Szollosi-Nagy.

Mr. Unver presented a concept paper prepared by WWAP for the G8 delegate experts: "Water: the blue web that unites us". Mr Unver outlined the main messages of the concept paper, which links the findings and recommendations of the World Water Development Report 3 to the subject matter of the meeting.

With the paper, WWAP aims to contribute to G8 efforts towards implementing the Evian Water Action Plan and achieving internationally agreed goals on water and sanitation. The 2009 G8 Summit will take place from 8 to 10 July in L’Aquila, Italy, selected to support reconstruction in the Abruzzo region, which was hit by the earthquake on 6 April.

New Side Publications Series

WWAP is pleased to announce a new series of side publications to accompany the third edition of the UN World Water Development Report, "Water in a Changing World". Written by partner organizations, these publications will provide more focused, in-depth information and scientific background knowledge discussed in the WWDR-3, and take a closer look at some less conventional water sectors. The series is divided into three primary kinds of publications: Scientific Side Papers, Sector and Topic-Specific ‘Insight’ Reports and a ‘Dialogue Series’. 

Launched during the March World Water Forum in Istanbul, the first of these publications, seventeen in total, are now available on-line. The series includes papers which focus on integrated water resources management, climate change, water policy and water management, among other topics.  Please visit our page on Side Publications for more information and to download reports.   Unfortunately, we are only able to offer these publications in English.

March 2009

Fifth World Water Forum, Istanbul, Turkey, March 16 - 22

WWAP will play a significant role in a number of key events during the 5th World Water Forum, held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 16 to 22 March 2009.  On the opening day of the Forum, 16 March, the Director-General of UNESCO will present, on behalf of the whole UN system, in plenary, the third edition of the triennial World Water Development Report (WWDR-3) coordinated by the World Water Assessment Programme that will continue an established tradition, as the Director-General presented the first two editions of the report in the 3rd and 4th Fora.

WWAP will also organize a number of events throughout the week which provide an opportunity to delve into the key messages and contents of the Report.  These include:

1. Press Conference on the WWDR-3 on 12 March in New-York. More information.
2. Launch of the World Water Development Report 3. 16 March, 17:00 - 19:00. More information.
3. WWDR-3: Findings and Main Messages Side Event. 18 March, 15:00 - 16:30. Attendees will be able to learn more about the content and findings of the Report, as well as participate in question-and-answer with the Report’s production team. More information.
4. WWDR-3 Case Studies Side Event. 17 March, 11:30 - 13:00. Several of WWAP’s country partners will present and respond to questions on a number of case studies included in the WWDR-3. More information.
5. WWAP’s Side Publications. 18 March, 16:30 - 18:00. Several publications will be presented that have been produced together with partner organizations in order to provide more focused, in-depth information, scientific background knowledge and policy guidelines. More information.

In addition, WWAP will hold a stand within the UN-Water Pavilion where further information on the WWDR-3 and related reports and materials will be available.  Regular updates on events and material on the WWDR-3 will be available through announcements and the WWAP website pages on the WWDR-3. We are looking forward to the launch of this important Report, and to sharing it with you in Istanbul!

World Water Development Report 3 "Water in a Changing World" to be Launched March 16th

After several years of sustained effort, WWAP is pleased to announce that the third edition of the World Water Development Report (WWDR), "Water in a Changing World", and its companion case study volume "Facing the Challenges" will be launched on March 16th at the Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey.  On the opening day of the Forum, the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, will present the new Report, which builds on the conclusions of the first and second reports, "Water for People, Water for Life" (2003) and "Water: A Shared Responsibility" (2006).

The WWDR, which aims to provide an authoritative assessment of the status of the world’s freshwater resources, is the only report of its kind.  It is the result of collaboration and effort among the 26 members of UN-Water, country partners, non-governmental organizations, a technical advisory committee, expert groups, and hundreds of contributions from stakeholders through global public consultations.

As the launch date for the third Report draws nearer, continuously updated information on the Report, its contents and key messages, its participatory development process and related events will be available on our WWDR-3 webpage.

February 2009

Annual UN-Water Meeting hosted in Perugia

During the first week of February this year, the 10th Annual Meeting of UN-Water took place at the new premises of the WWAP Secretariat, at the Villa La Colombella in Perugia, Italy. UN-Water is the mechanism which works to strengthen co-ordination and coherence among all UN bodies dealing with water-related issues, from health to farming, environment to energy, food to climate, and sanitation to disasters.

During the meeting, UN-Water members discussed the mechanism’s work plan for the coming two years and the progress of its programmes,and approved the planned activities of the UN-Water Task Forces. The ‘Indicator, Monitoring and Report Task Force’ and the ‘Country Level Coherence and Coordination Task Force’ held workshops prior to the UN-Water meeting on February 2nd.

Established in 2003, UN-Water evolved from many years of close collaboration among UN agencies and a firm belief that more can be done to strengthen the UN system in its effort to work more effectively on water and sanitation issues. UN-Water adds value to existing United Nations programmes and projects, and fosters co-operation and information-sharing among UN agencies and outside partners. For more information about UN-Water, please visit the official website at www.unwater.org.

January 2009

WWAP Expert group on Indicators, Monitoring and Databases (EG-IMD) holds meeting in Perugia

On January 29-30, the EG-IMD held a meeting of “data and indicator users” in which a dozen representatives of different user groups, including private sector, policy development and major water user sectors, discussed the types of global indicators they would like to see available in terms of water resources. The discussions focused on three categories (or “domains”) of indicators: the state of the resource, water uses, and the interface between the resource and its use, governance and performance.

This meeting was the first of a three-phase process. The consultation will feed directly into the second stage: a strategic discussion among data providers and interpreters, who will be asked to reflect upon the outcomes of the users group from a supply-side perspective. These deliberations will focus on which elements from the user groups are achievable, and what can be done to address those that are not. The third stage of the process will bring together members of both groups who will be asked to synthesize the results of the previous consultations and develop recommendations for highlighting complementary conclusions and for bridging the gap between users and providers interpreters.

On the basis of this work, it is hoped that, in the WWDR4, it will be possible to report some substantive progress and to answer key questions such as whether and how changing water resource endowments are impacting on different countries and regions, whether there is progress in improving the efficiency with which water is used for national socio-economic development and whether the degradation of the water environment has been slowed. At the very least, it should be possible to report on the steps that have been taken to improve the flow of data and information to enable key trends to be established and monitored.