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1. World Water Council & World Water Forum 1. World Water Council & World Water Forum
1.1 What are the World Water Council and the World Water Forum? What is the difference between them? The World Water Council is a French Association working internationally, whose mission is to raise awareness on critical water issues, to generate decisions and actions and to create political commitment for a world in which water is available for the population in sufficient quantity and quality to allow sustainable human development. It thus aims to foster the sustainable management and use of water resources. It gathers some 300 member organisations throughout the world (Intergovernmental organisations; Government and governmental authorities; Enterprises and facilities; Civil society organisations and water user associations; Professional associations and academic institutions). The World Water Council is the creator and owner of the World Water Forum, which serves to bring together this great diversity of stakeholders and others striving for the same goals. The World Water Forum is an international event, organised every three years by the World Water Council in collaboration with the authorities of the host country (Turkey for the 5th edition). It is the largest water-related event in the world, aimed at putting water firmly on the international agenda. A three-year preparatory process culminates in one week of sessions, debates and cultural activities, where water experts come together. In Istanbul the three levels of political decision makers are expected to come together in order to seek common solutions to achieve water security and to set the agenda aimed at utilising water as a motor for development. This is the agenda that needs to be further developed by the stakeholders involved, primarily governments in terms of concrete actions and commitments. 1.2 How legitimate is the Forum and the WWC that organises it? The World Water Council was created by a number of key international organizations working on water-related issues, as an umbrella organization for the water community, to unite and provide greater exposure to the various groups working on the same issue. As such, the World Water Council acts on behalf of its 300 members distributed across all sectors, activities and regions of the world (with the multitude of their views and approaches). The General Assembly of members is the ultimate authority of the Council: it decides on the Council’s management, activities and programmes. The World Water Forum is a cooperative effort between the WWC (representing its members and partners) and different authorities from the host country (for the 5th Forum: the Turkish Directorate of State Hydraulic Works, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the City of Istanbul). The gathering of these actors, with the common goal of finding solutions, makes the Forum a legitimate event organised by water experts, but whose aim is not only to preach to the converted to strengthen their action, but also to reach out to the political level and the public-at-large through the media. 1.3 How is the Istanbul Forum organised? Following a thorough selection process, the WWC Board of Governors selects a host country and city from a number of candidates, approximately three years prior to the event. All candidatures must be supported by the governmental authorities of the country. The authorities of the host country and the World Water Council then establish an International Steering Committee (ISC) for the Forum, composed equally of representatives from both sides. This ISC is supported by 3 sub-committees, namely the Programme, Political Process and Communication Committees. The ISC oversees the organization of the Forum and provides guidance on the work of the three sub-committees. Two years before the Forum, a Kick-Off Meeting is organised in the host country. For this event around 300 stakeholders are invited, representing the different regions and sectors of the water world. Over the course of several days, they provide input to the main topics and general orientation of the Forum, and investigate ways for each interested organisation, initiative and region to become involved in the preparatory process. Over the following 2 years, a number of preparatory meetings are held around the world to further develop thematic issues, establish partnerships, create synergies, and involve people in the Forum process. This allows the substantive issues discussed at the Forum to be well prepared and the debate in the Forum to focus on concrete actions rather than abstract concepts. One year prior to the Forum, the Forum Secretariat receives session proposals from various organisations and opens the registration process. The year leading up to the Forum is devoted to finalising the programme of the Forum and its logistical arrangements. 1.4 What is the difference with other symposiums or conferences? What is the added value of the Forum as compared to other meetings? Why another meeting? The World Water Forum is the largest water-related event in the world, but is dependent on lengthy preparatory processes involving many stakeholders over a period of 2 to 3 years. While most conferences are made for water experts or for specific target groups, the World Water Forum is a place where people from every sector can come together to debate and to find common solutions to water-related problems. The Forum thus recognises water is a crosscutting issue, and that the solution to water-related issues requires more than a sector-only approach. Furthermore, while most conferences deal with one specific subject, the World Water Forum is a global event aiming to cover thematic and critical water issues and their related causes or impacts (such as climate change and its consequence on migration, to name just one). The World Water Forum is also unique in that it allows its multi-stakeholder debates to be transformed into commitment at the political level, throughout its preparatory process and during the week of the Forum. The Forum thus gathers Ministers from over a hundred countries during a Ministerial Conference, and will, for the first time enable in its design interaction between these Ministers, Parliamentarians and Local Authorities. Also, major United Nations events happen at the Forum. Over the years the regular UN World Water Development Reports were launched at the Forum. Following this practice the third Report will be launched in Istanbul. |