8^th Session of UN Commission for Sustainable Development

Report on World Water Development Report and International Conference on Water (Bonn 2002) 

UN ACC Subcommittee on Water Resources

At the eighth session of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development ( New York, 20th April to 5th May) the ACC Subcommittee on Water Resources made an hour presentation about UN inter-agency activities. A key activity was the production of the Secretary General report on "The progress in provision of drinking water supply and sanitation in the 1990's" and the ACC Subcommittee will also begin work on the first World Water Development Report (WWDR, to be produced in 2002). The process of WWDR production, they said, would require input from governments but also more widely. Its focus will broadly aim to highlight world progress  towards freshwater related objectives in Agenda 21, monitor implementation of World Water Vision, outline status of global freshwater (in social, economic and environment context), monitor regional, river basin continental and global trends, including country comparisons. It will be published every two years. The ACC are coordinating the process assisted by UNESCO (Other UN institutions are inputting and supporting the process), which will include:

* Production of the report methodology by March 2001 and consensus in June 2001,
* Consultations with NGOs, international institutions, industry to ensure it meets Agenda 21 and World Water Vision objectives, from June 2001,

* Establish databases, by Sept  2001,
* A draft report by Oct 2001,
* Present the report at Rio + 10 (third Earth Summit) in 2002.

During the second week of discussion the review of the ACC subcommittee on water resources (E/CN.17.2000/18) was rejected because of the already extensive agenda for CSD-9. The report on progress made in providing safe water supply and sanitation for all during the 1990s (E/CN.17/2000/13) was noted.

Contact: UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs, Secretariat to the ACC Sub-committee on Water Resources Tel: +1212 963 4208, email: [email protected]

For further details see the CSD secretariat, and the NGO steering committee web sites.

International Conference on Freshwater (Bonn, December 2001)

Dr. Fritz Holzwarth, Deputy Director General of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Directorate Water Management, Soil Protection and Clean up of contaminated Sites), gave a short presentation at the same meeting on the "International Conference on Freshwater", the follow up to Dublin, in Bonn (January, 2002). It will be a review of Agenda 21 Ch.18 and the principle aims include:

* discussions on policy and strategy for a more integrated approach, including river-basin management issues
* cross-sectoral linkages, water-trade-agriculture and the linkage between UN Conventions e.g. desertification, wetlands, biological diversity.
* Case studies of best practice

The German government want to encourage a "process that is participatory and transparent" and will start as soon as possible in 2000. He said that this would take  place principally at the regional level and across sectoral groups. It is a joint coordination between  Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Bonn.

 

Your Turn!

The UN CSD NGO freshwater caucus is in a good position to push for more open and accountable processes for the World Water Development Report and the Bonn meeting, to ensure that NGOs can be more effectively involved by linking into these processes now. We invite interested NGOs to join the UN CSD NGO freshwater caucus and sign up to the e-group to express your interest in this process, as well as outline any activities you would like to see or input for both of these opportunities. See egroup or for further details contact [email protected].