More than 100 new commitments on water were made by participants at the eight-day Third World Water Forum, the most important international water meeting ever. The Forum was held in the three neighboring Japanese cities of Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka from 16-23 March, with 351 separate sessions held on 38 interlocking themes dealing with water, and in particular the issue of how to bring safe water and sanitation to the entire world population.
Some 24,000 participants from 182 countries -more than triple the number of participants expected- attended the sessions. The key issues that they addressed revolved around balancing increasing human requirements for adequate water supplies and improved health and sanitation, with food production, transportation, energy and environmental needs, while recognizing that most countries will require more effective governance, improved capacity and adequate financing.
"The Third World Water Forum has become a truly 'action-oriented' conference," said Kenzo Hiroki, Vice Secretary General of the Third World Water Forum.
"I have talked with hundreds of participants in sessions and in the corridors," said William J. Cosgrove, Vice President of the World Water Council, one of the main conveners of the World Water Forums, held every three years in a different host country. "Without exception, they reported that they consider that the Forum exceeded their expectations. It was a unique opportunity to form partnerships, join networks and learn from the experience of others."
They agreed that "community level public participation is fundamental to achieving these goals," and that the "common basic requirement for water is an opportunity for cooperation and peace."
The Organizing Committee issued a preliminary 8-page Forum Statement, in which the Committee agreed that they will be "solemnly committed to facing the global water challenges and to meeting the goal set forth at the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in New York (2000)" of cutting by half the proportion of poor people without secure access to water and sanitation by the year 2015.
This preliminary statement has been posted on the Forum's website, with an invitation for comments or suggestions to be sent the Secretariat until 30 April, which will be reflected in the final statement.
Of the more than 100 commitments reached during the Forum, the climate theme accounted for more than 20, and gender issues produced 13 commitments.
But not everybody is happy with this event. The Social Water Forum was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 16-23 March around the theme of Water and Peace. In the Opening Session, Leonardo Morelli, Forum organizer and Co-ordinator of the Grito das Aguas (Cry of the Waters) Movement, stressed the importance of establishing a world order based on peace, not war, noting that if today's wars are about oil, the wars of the future will be about water.
Others forums took place in New York, Florence, and New Delhi, with the next one to be held in April in Accra (Ghana).
The Social Water Forum rejected the World Water Forum considering it "an unrepresentative and undemocratic body that brings together international financial institutions, large water corporations, governmental authorities and non-governmental organisations tied to these interests".
