Unusual snow in December in Tokyo

Secretary General, Hideaki Oda

Unusual for Tokyo in December, there has been snow on the ground. I wonder if this might be due to climate change. In the midst of this wintry weather, Gifu was the scene of a December 4 symposium with the theme of "Climate change and water," which attracted more than 800 participants. The symposium will be broadcast on NHK BS-1 (Japanese national satellite TV) next spring. I was impressed to hear a climate change expert comment that he could not believe how many people had turned out for such a serious conference. I hope that CO2 emission reduction, which is such a crucial issue, will attract more attention through such solid and serious activities which connect climate change and water issues.

A Water Expo steering committee meeting was held in Osaka on December 5. Thanks to the effort of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (the large economics daily newspaper of Japan), the prospects are bright for securing a good number of participating enterprises, despite the severe economic situation. From this point onwards, our task is to make substantial plans to satisfy a variety of exhibitors ranging from private enterprises to UN bodies, international organizations and governmental organizations. I believe that to do so will require closer coordination among the concerned organizations.

The 3rd World Water Forum is planning to provide financial support for participants from developing countries. However, some support is possible even for those who are not from developing countries. The following is a list of special cases for support:

1. Reduction of and exemption from the registration fee A 40 % discount from the regular registration fee will be made available to participants from 118 designated developing countries. Information about the qualifying countries may be found at: http:/regi.water-forum3.com/indexj.html


2. 2. Invitation (Support for travel expenses and accommodation)
   1. Water Action Contest
      150 organizations which have been acting towards the resolution of water issues at the grassroots level will be selected to be invited to the Forum.
   
   
   2. Support for session participants (only for participants from developing countries) We will invite a total of 400 people, who are recommended by the chairs of the sessions. These people will take on roles such as chair, speaker and rapporteur.
   
   
   3. "Water Voice" Messenger Award
      We will invite 10 messengers and 3 partner organizations to the Forum and give commendations to those who collected the most "Water Voices" for the "Water Voice" Project, which is designed to collect grassroots level voices from around the world.
   
   
   4. Water Journalist Award
      We will invite journalists selected from amongst the winners of the Water Journalist Contest to the Forum to receive their commendations.

Note: Except b), the support is NOT restricted to participants from developing countries.

- A variety of seminars, events and PR activities have been coming alive in various places.

- A PR film in OSAKA
A World Water Forum PR film is showing on 14 screens at 11 major subway stations in Osaka in December 2002 and February 2003. The program is repeated 30 times a day between 7:00 am and 10 pm (see Photo-1).
The same film is being shown on the screen at Christa Nagabori, 22 times a day between 11:00 am and 10:00 pm, from December 2002 to March 2003, and on the huge screen at the World Trade Center 4 times a day between 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm every day, and also twice between 7:00 and 9:00 pm on Fridays and Saturdays between November 2002 and March 2003.

- Number of "Water Voices" exceeded 17,000!!

- As of December 11:
Number of "Water Voices": 17,261
Number of Messengers: 1,881
Number of Partner Organizations: 161

- Discount for Gold messengers
Each messenger who has collected more than 10 voices will be identified as a Gold Messenger and presented with a gold pin. Gold messengers qualify for a 10% discount from the 3rd World Water Forum registration fee.

If you have any question, please inquire to: voice@water-forum3.com
Please visit the project site: http:/www.worldwaterforum.org/voice/jp/

Session of the Week: Water and Poverty

According to a report by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, the Water Poverty Index was created to assess water resources and water environment in 147 countries. The index assigns each country a score between 0 and 100, based on five parameters: Resources, Access, Use, Capacity and Environment. The top rated country was Finland, with Canada second and Iceland third, while the 3 lowest ratings went to Haiti, Niger, and Ethiopia. This reflects the seriousness of water issues in developing countries. Japan ranked 34th. The map shows the degree of seriousness of water issues (Chart-1). For more details, visit: http:/www.nerc-wallingford.ac.uk/research/WPI/ (only available in English).

There are 3 VWF sessions hosting discussions of water issues in developing countries, where poverty is rampant.

1. Title: Water, Poverty and Development
   Chairperson: AYSEGUL KIBAROGLU (Ankara Thematic Center, Turkey)
   http:/www.worldwaterforum.org/for/en/fshow.336
   This session seeks to analyze the relationship between water, poverty and development through an interdisciplinary approach, and develops discussion about the eradication of poverty.


2. Title: Poverty and Water Security
   Chairperson: Wouter Lincklaen Arriens (Asian Development Bank)
   http:/www.worldwaterforum.org/for/en/fshow.355
   This session promotes discussion about poverty and water crises.


3. Title: Safe and sustainable re-use of urban wastewater in very low income countries
   Chairperson: Liqa Raschid (IWMI, Sri Lanka)
   Co-Chairperson: Sarath Abayawardana (IWMI, Sri Lanka)
   http:/www.worldwaterforum.org/for/en/fshow.393
   This session is assessing cases of urban wastewater re-use and collecting examples and methods.