Ten years ago on this day, the Network of Asian River Basin Organisations (NARBO) held its inaugural meeting at the town of Batu in East Java, Indonesia. I was one of the fortunate few present on that historical day to bear witness to the birth of NARBO, conceived almost a year earlier with the signing of a letter of intent between the Japan Water Agency (JWA), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the ADB Institute (ADBI) during the 3rd World Water Forum held in Kyoto, Japan in March 2003. Happy birthday to NARBO!
From its humble beginnings, NARBO has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade and has matured into a respected international network with a high profile at the regional and global level. NARBO co-organised a session with UNESCO at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France in March 2012. A year later, NARBO co-organised a side event at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to provide inputs to the UN Special Thematic Session on Water and Disasters. Following this, NARBO became a member of the High-Level Experts and Leaders Panel (HELP) on Water and Disasters which works closely with the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB). NARBO is also involved in the OECD’s Water Governance Initiative (WGI). At the same time, NARBO continues to strengthen its relationship and networking with international agencies such as the UN, WEPA, AWCI (Asia Water Cycle Initiative), UNESCO, UNESCO-IHE, ICHARM and the Asia Pacific Water Forum. Congratulations to NARBO!
NARBO’s initial membership of 43 organisations from 11 countries has nearly doubled to 83 organisations from 17 countries, and with many more applications in the pipeline, this number will continue to grow. The first half of the decade was devoted to building up capacity among the members as they work towards implementing Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in their river basins. Through these efforts, many of the member organisations have evolved into leading examples of competent and effective River Basin Organisations (RBOs). The second half of the decade was a period of consolidation and the strengthening of the governance structure. NARBO has put into place a Steering Committee to provide the vision and direction, and a Management Team to turn this vision into reality.
Of the numerous activities and collaborations carried out over the past ten years, one in particular stands out. This is the collaboration with UNESCO to publish the ‘IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level’ which incorporates the Spiral Model. This Guidelines is increasingly being disseminated and used not only in the Asian region, but also in other regions of the world. It has also been translated into Spanish, and is being used by JICA as a reference text in JICA’s training programs, and from the feedback obtained, has gained a reputation as an easy to understand reference material.
Truly, it has been an exciting and fruitful decade for NARBO and I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to all NARBO members for their continuous participation and support to bring NARBO to what it is today. Your valued inputs have helped to improve and enhance NARBO’s role and have moved us closer to achieving IWRM in our respective river basins. I am also grateful to the Steering Committee and the Management Team for their invaluable advice and contributions, and to the dedication and hard work of our Secretary-Generals past and present, who together with the Secretariat staff have been the backbone of NARBO’s success. Thank you to all and happy birthday once again to NARBO!
Keizrul Bin Abdullah
Chairperson NARBO
24th February 2014