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Start page 1. World Water Council & World Water Forum 2. World Water Fora - 5th World Water Forum 3. Bridging and theme 4. Regional Proces 5. Benefits/Output 6. Organisation and Location 7. Participation 8. Costs 9. Miscellaneous 10. Political process 10. Political process 10.1 What political outcome is expected from the Forum? As in past Fora, Governments will be encouraged to commit to further action for the cause of water in particular through the presence of the subject during other summits and conferences, increased allocation of funding to water-related projects and enhanced multilateral cooperation and partnership mechanisms. These outputs are being carefully monitored for follow-up. 10.2 What role will Ministers play? How do you make the ministerial conference useful? Will there be a ministerial declaration? How do you bridge the thematic issues to Ministerial declaration? The world water forum has come to understand that more then Ministerial meetings and declarations are needed to encourage the linkage between political and technical aspects of water and to increase the political will to act. This forum will have meetings of Mayors from mega cites who will produce recommendations, statements and commitments to deal with water. It will also include parliamentarians who will discuss what they need to meet water challenges. The traditional ministerial meeting will ask ministers to focus in a specific area, water actions and societal adaptations to climate change. In addition the forum will include places during the week where participants in the different elements of the political process will interact among themselves and participants and the thematic aspects of the forum For the first time, this forum will also include a meeting of several heads of states. While this project is still being developed, it is hoped that a common ground will be found so that Governments will commit to further action for the cause of water. This may be achieved by a series of Focus Group meetings among high-level Governmental representatives, local authorities and Parliamentarians in order to investigate precisely what is feasible in today’s political climate. The Political Process Committee is responsible for establishing interaction between Ministers, Parliamentarians and local authorities. Careful consideration is being given as to how to most effectively provide the Ministerial Conference with the conclusions from the thematic elements of the Forum. While Ministerial Declarations have been presented at past World Water Fora, the Political Process Committee is determined to go beyond such an output for the 5th Forum. 10.3 Is this a UN meeting? If not, what is the relation with UN meetings? While this is not a UN meeting, the Forum involves many UN institutions, such as UNESCO, UNDP, UNICEF, UN-Water and UNESCO-IHE, all members of UN Water. Indeed it is a mechanism to move forward some of the most important initiatives endorsed by official international organizations, such as meeting the MDG’s, helping the CSD processes and engaging the UN decade for water and sanitation. Furthermore, the United Nations system contributes to the Forum as a platform for many of its activities, such as its World Water Day festivities in the year of the Forum and the launching of the triennial World Water Development Report. 10.4 How will stakeholders take part in the political process? Will it be top-down or democratic? The Political Process Committee will be responsible for consulting with a wide group of stakeholders, so that their voices may be heard within the Ministerial Conference and so that the Ministerial Conference may react appropriately to the concerns expressed by the stakeholders. This is an example of bridging at its best. Furthermore, means of interaction will be sought between governmental and non-governmental participants at the Forum, such as roundtable debates. 10.5 Will politicians again avoid commitments? Will the outcomes/recommendations of the regional meetings again be ignored? It is of vital important for the World Water Council that there be continuity and follow-up between the different World Water Fora, and that what is said and achieved during the Forum is complied with. As such, the Council is currently examining mechanisms through which it will be able to prompt countries to keep to their commitments made at the Forum. As regards the regional meetings, they will serve as one of the major sources on input to the Ministerial process at the Forum, and any declaration will be strongly based on the outcomes of the regional meetings and the priorities identified through this process.