Report on the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico




On March 16, President Vicente Fox of Mexico announced the opening of the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City, graced with the presence of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of the Netherlands, the Prime Minister of Morocco, and His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince of Japan. During the seven-day Forum, 19,766 participants joined the Forum and it ended all its programs on UN Water Day, March 22.




-- Summary of the Fourth World Water Forum
(Source: Summary of the 4th World Water Forum Activities by the Secretariat of the 4th Forum)


Total number of participants: 19,766


Participating Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
= Number of organizations: 880
= CSO members registered: 1,515
= Countries of origin of the CSOs: 101


Ministerial Conference
= Number of delegations: 149
= Number of ministers: 78
= Number of mayors: 120
= Number of legislators: 150


World Water Expo
= Total number of participants: 8,105
= Number of companies: 340 (53% national and 47% international)
= Countries represented: 25


Water Fair
= Number of exhibitors (governments, organizations and regions):108
(50% national and 50% international)
= Countries represented: 21


Second Children's World Water Forum
= Participating children: 107


Third Youth World Water Forum
= Participating youth: 95
(34 from Mexico and the rest from 22 countries)


Number of journalists who attended: 1,395


Total thematic sessions: 206
(3/17:42, 3/18:41, 3/19:41, 3/20:43, 3/21:39)


Total special sessions: 21


Total local actions registered: 1,631


While the Fourth Forum was smaller in scale compared with the Third World Water Forum held in Japan (the total number of participants was 24,060 and the number of participating countries in the Ministerial Meeting was 170 in the Third Forum), this Forum attracted more participants than the initial estimate of 10,000. This fact together with the increasing number of media representatives shows that the world's interest in water issues has been rising.


Now we would like to look back the 4th World Water Forum, especially focusing on the activities of Japan Water Forum.




-- From the Third to the Fourth World Water Forum: UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation


After the opening ceremony, Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto, former Prime Minister of Japan and Chair of the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, delivered two speeches. One was entitled From the Third to the Fourth World Water Forum, which was an overview of developments in water issues across the world after the Third World Water Forum and included some examples of commitments successfully implemented since then. Another was about the Compendium of Actions, which had compiled based on the discussions in the previous five meetings of the Advisory Board and was expected to show the future direction of the world's water movements.




-- Keynote Speech by His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince of Japan: Edo and Water Transportation


On March 17, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince of Japan delivered a keynote speech entitled Edo and Water Transport. He started his speech with a discussion of the role of the Minuma Tsusen Bori, which is one of the oldest lockage system channels in existence in Japan. He compared its history with the one of lockage on the river Thames. Then, he referred to the relationship between water and the City of Edo (present Tokyo Metropolitan Government*), which was one of the world's largest cities of its time. He concluded by saying that any solution to be effective must identify and meet the distinct needs of each region and every river basin and it is probably best found in the wisdom accumulated over millennia by local inhabitant like navigation channels. . His speech deeply impressed the audience gathered from across the world.


Later, in a session entitled Water and Transportation, co-organized by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Land and Transportation of Japan, and its counterparts from Korea and The United States, discussion focused on navigation throughout the world.


* The Edo period is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1867. The period ended with the Meiji Restoration.




-- Financing


Financing was one of the major topics at the Fourth Forum. The World Water Council and the Global Water Partnership had helped to set up the Gurria Panel, which was led by Mr. Angel Gurria, next Secretary-General of the OECD, and was aimed at discussing financing for water sectors. At a session chaired by Mr. Gurria in Mexico, the results of the panel's discussions were made public. Crowded room with many people standing in the audience showed that participants were greatly interested in financing for water sectors. Presentations on successful and innovative projects were made regarding the following themes: Enhancing Access to Finance for Local Governments and Financing Water for Agriculture. Mr. Gurria made the impressive comment that, though most of these reports emphasized the importance of capacity building on the recipients' side, we must continue to develop innovative financing schemes on the side of donors, both bilateral multilateral.




-- Integrated Water Resources Management


There was one "mega" session under the theme of Integrated Water Resources Management, which focused on the progress of IWRM plan by countries and implementation status of IWRM. The Global Water Partnership and the JWF presented the results of global surveys respectively and some other organizations presented regional surveys. These surveys were aimed at assessing various efforts regarding IWRM, raising public awareness, and marking a major milestone on the road towards the implementation of IWRM. The report sparked lively discussion regarding the methods and results of the assessment. The JWF gained an understanding of the institutional, legal and budgetary systems related to IWRM through its questionnaire survey, assessed the results according to certain criteria, and listed 82 countries in order of progress towards IWRM. The results showed that 28% of the countries surveyed had been making considerable progress towards IWRM, 57% had made some limited progress, and 15% were ready to launch IWRM programs.



-- Asia-Pacific Ministerial Meeting: Establishment of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum


The Japan Water Forum organized the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Meeting as coordinator for the Asia-Pacific region on March 20. At the meeting, attended by 151 ministers and high-level officials from 24 countries in the region, Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto explained the background of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum initiative in his opening speech. Following Mr. Hashimoto's speech, Mr. Geert van der Linden, Vice President, Asian Development Bank, and Mr. Kim Hak-Su, United Nations Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of UNESCAP, expressed their strong support for the Asia-Pacific Water Forum. Then, ministers from China, Bangladesh, Korea, New Zealand, Palau, Mongolia, and Pakistan, and other representatives of states and international organizations such as JBIC, UNEP, MRC, FAO, and ISDR followed. This showed that the new network had attained regional as well as international attention. On Asia-Pacific Day, March 21, Mr. Hashimoto declared the establishment of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum. Further information is available on the APWF website: www.apwf.org

-- Risk Management


Under the theme of Risk Management, which the JWF plays the role of beacon, we organized a session on tsunami and high tides and gave a presentation on the disaster mitigation program in Sri Lanka, which had been led by the youth group of the JWF after the Indian Ocean Tsunami. A Pakistani organization reported on its concrete activities for providing sanitation after disasters. In the Asia-Pacific region, most big cities with populations of five million or more are situated along coasts and are vulnerable to water disasters. The number of such big cities is supposed to increase from 21 in 2000 to 32 in 2015. Water-related disasters combined with the harmful effects of climate change could present bigger threats to human populations. Therefore, it is crucial for us to have the necessary knowledge and to take appropriate actions. To learn from specific examples, the participants engaged in lively discussions about disaster prevention and countermeasures.




-- Water Expo


During the Water Expo, held from March 16 to21, all of the Japanese stakeholders including industry, government, academia and NGOs ran the Japan Pavilion together, where they exhibited Japanese water-related projects and technologies. It was their first such undertaking and 24 exhibitors worked in an atmosphere of cooperation. In the Japan Pavilion, Japan Nights were held from 18:00 to 19:00. The various events such as kagamiwari (opening sake barrel), dances, workshops on calligraphy, haiku and Japanese language provided a good opportunity for many visitors to learn about Japan and the Japanese approach to water.

-- Last Day


On the last day, the venue was moved from the Centro Banamex (main venue) to the Camino Real Hotel. After a comprehensive discussion, the Ministerial Meeting adopted the Ministerial Declaration. In the declaration, it was revealed that the Portfolio of Water Actions (PWA), which had been launched at the third World Water Forum, would be incorporated into the Water Action Network Database (WAND) by integrating the decisions made at the CSD13.


The World Water Action Program unveiled the second version of the World Water Development Report, and introduced some of the good practices included in it.


At the closing ceremony, the winner of the Kyoto Water Prize was announced. The Prize is awarded to a local grassroots group involved in sustainable water-related activities which ensure citizens' participation. The first winner of the Prize was an NGO from India called Gram Vikas. They had been engaged in a project entitled Community-Controlled Rural Water and Sewerage in Orissa, India,. Please see http://www.worldwaterforum4.org.mx/home/prizes4.asp?lan= for more detailed information.




The JWF also contributed to preparations for the second Children's World Water Forum as one of the organizers. The report of the Japanese children participating in the Forum is posted on the website of the Foundation of River & Watershed Environment Management.
http://www.mizube-support-center.org/cwwf-f/2005/cwwf2gaiyou.html