The Year of the 3rd World Water Forum draws to an end

Secretary General, Hideaki Oda

It is nine months now since we held the 3rd World Water Forum, but already it feels like it was 10 years ago, and also like it was only yesterday-... but for sure it is behind us.

Nevertheless, it has been a great pleasure of all of us who were involved in the preparations for the Forum to observe that many encounters at the Forum have led to new actions in many locations around the world.

On behalf of the Forum Secretariat, I would like to express great gratitude to all those who lent us their generous support and wish one and all a happy and prosperous new year.

2003 was the year of the 3rd World Water Forum. The Forum, which took 3 years to prepare, concluded successfully in March. Our focus of action has changed from preparations to reports and follow-up. This last newsletter of 2003 reviews the events in 2003.

- January to March 2003: The last phase of preparation for the Forum. The final-stage preparatory activities included final adjustments with the host prefectures/cities and staff members of each venue.

- March 15, 2003: Joint meeting of the WWC board of governors of the national steering committee members of the 3rd World Water Forum in Nara.

- March 16-23, 2003: The 3rd World Water Forum. The Forum was held at 3 venues, Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka, which share the Lake Biwa and Yodo River Basin. 351 sessions were held with 18 major themes, 2 topics and 5 special programs, divided into 8 major groups and 5 regional days at each venue. The Forum brought together more than 24,000 participants from 183 countries.

- April 2003: Reduction of the Secretariat. Many of the Secretariat staff who had been seconded from host cities/prefectures and various related organizations returned to their organizations: the number of Secretariat staff fell to 9 from more than 30.

- May 2003: Secretariat office relocated. / The resolution of the Shiga Committee. In response to the decrease in the number of Secretariat staff, the Secretariat moved to a smaller office. At the 5th general meeting of the Shiga Committee of the 3rd World Water Forum the Shiga Committee was dissolved.

- June 2003: Evian Summit. / Issuance of the Forum Statement. / The dissolution of the Kyoto Executive Committee and Osaka Committee. At G8, the Evian Summit, following the 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto, an action plan was adopted to meet the Millennium Development Goals to halve the number of people without proper access to clean water by 2015. The Forum Statement, expressing the outcome of the 3rd World Water Forum, was announced and submitted at the Evian Summit. The 3rd general meeting of the Kyoto Executive Committee of the 3rd World Water Forum was held, and the Committee was dissolved. The 5th organizers meeting of the Osaka Committee was held and the Committee was dissolved.

- July 2003: Follow-up meeting. / Debrief meetings of EXPO exhibitors. Follow-up meeting was held in Kyoto for people who supported the Forum as volunteers, local committee staff and the like. Debriefings were held in Osaka and Tokyo for Water EXPO exhibitors.

- August 2003: Final Report released. The Forum Final Report was unveiled at the Stockholm Water Symposium.

- September 2003: Dushanbe International Fresh Water Forum. The Dushanbe International Fresh Water Forum was held in Tajikistan and the Dushanbe Water Appeal was adopted.

- October 2003: The host country for the 4th Forum was decided. / The new governing board of the WWC was formally approved. It was decided at the WWC Board of Directors meeting that Mexico would be the host country of the 4th World Water Forum. At the WWC General Meeting, the new structure of the WWC went into effect as Dr. William J. Cosgrove assumed his elected position of president.

- November 2003: People's Forum on Water in Kyoto dissolved. The steering committee met for the seventh and final time. The Secretariat made a presentation about the general report on the Forum and the creation of the Japanese Final Report*, and the Steering Committee approved the Japan Water Forum as the successor of the 3rd World Water Forum Secretariat.

- December 2003: Coordinating meeting in Mexico. The Japanese Secretariat and the Mexican Secretariat held a coordinating meeting as the first step towards the handover to the 4th Forum Secretariat of the outcome of the 3rd Forum, including experience, knowledge, and networks.

*If you wish to receive a copy of the English Final Report, please contact us at: fair@water-forum3.com

Reported by Seiji Ito

The Pan-Africa Implementation and Partnership Conference on Water was held in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia from December 8 to 12, 2003. The objective of the conference was to strengthen partnerships supportive of the work to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the outcome of the WSSD, spearheaded by a core group consisting of the African Ministerial Conference on Water (AMCOW), the African Development Bank (AFDB), Ethiopia's Ministry of Water Resources and the African Water Task Force (AWTF).

The opening plenary was held on December 8 and discussion was promoted on various themes such as "Meeting basic needs: water, sanitation and human settlements," "Water for Food Security," "Protecting ecosystems and livelihoods," "Managing risk: Water and Climate," "Financing water infrastructure," "Integrated water Resources Management/Shared Water Resources," "Valuing and allocating water," "Ensuring water wisdom," and "Governing water wisely."

Various organizations including the Secretariat of the 3rd World Water Forum and the International Flood Network (IFNET) held sessions on December 10th. During the conference there were also a number of actions presented towards the 12th Committee meeting of Sustainable Development (CSD-12) in April 2004.

The Ministers' commitment to implementation and partnership on water was presented at the closing ceremony on December 12th after the Ministerial Conference on the 11th.

For the details of the conference, visit: http:/www.uneca.org/water/