NARBO members actively participated in
World Water Week
from 16-22 August 2009, in Stockholm, Sweden.
Such avtivites as events regarding IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level and
"Eye on Asia" were conducted during the Week.
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of JAPAN (MLIT) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organized the side event “IWRM at River Basin Level in Coping with Global Changes” on August 16th, at Stockholmsmässan.
“IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level”, launched by UNESCO with support from NARBO during the 5th World Water Forum as a contribution to World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), provides basic principles for decision makers and help practitioners implement IWRM under their own circumstances. The Side Event focused on “Keys for Success for IWRM implementation at River Basin Level”, with special focus on Global Changes.
Mr. Andras Szöllösi-Nagy, UNESCO addressed opening remarks and mentioned that the Guidelines includes new dimension of IWRM with spiralling development. Mr. Eugene Z. Stakhiv, Co-Chair of the Steering Committee, IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level made a key note speech titled “IWRM at the river basin level and Global Changes”. He mentioned that examples from all over the world in the guidelines showed the history in which we had overcome more complex conditions as we went up the spiral and compassed multiple objectives including gender and social impacts.
A panel discussion was also conducted. Adaptation to Global Changes through the Guidelines was discussed. Mr. Shinsuke Ota, NARBO Advisor, Japan, Mr. Victor Pochat, Professor of Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina and member of the Steering Committee and Mr. Bruce Hooper, DHI, Australia participated in the discussion, and it was moderated by Mr. Stakhiv. Mr. Ota introduced his experiences in capacity development using the Guidelines and he mentioned useful training material “Drill” with a series of questions is needed for easy understanding by trainee of concepts of the Guidelines Part2. Mr. Pochat introduced case study of La Plata regarding Climate Change. Mr.Hooper told that the guidelines were good in descriptive process, and the next step would be how to apply the way of thinking to different hydrological and cultural conditions, gender issues and future changes.
ADB and partner organizations including NARBO organized
"Eye on Asia", a day-long series of activities
that highlighted lessons from the Asia-Pacific experience on 18 August 2009.
Eye on Asia aimed to share knowledge on recent developments
in the Asia-Pacific’s water and sanitation sector.
It showcased reforms and innovations
that revealed new or improved solutions to longstanding issues,
and identified remaining challenges in the region.
Details on the introduction of the Guidelines
and direct link to download the full document of the Guidelines are
provided in the NARBO website
"Translation of IWRM Principles into Practical Application -
IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level" and
UNESCO Water Portal Bi-monthly Newsletter No.214.
