1^st Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum

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Asia Development Bank, Manila, Philippines
28 September, 2006

 1. Opening of the session

The meeting was opened by the Chair, Ms. Erna Witoelar, UN Special Ambassador for Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific, and Vice-Chair of the APWF Governing Council.

In her opening remarks, the Chair expressed, on behalf of the APWF Governing Council, her gratitude for all the preparatory work done by the ADB and JWF in organizing this meeting, especially given the obvious challenges caused by the typhoon.

 2. Adoption of the agenda

The provisional agenda was formally adopted

 3. Confirmation of the Concept Paper of the APWF and TOR for the Governing Council and Lead Organization

Mr. Hideaki Oda, Councilor to the President of the JWF, thanked those participants who attended the Official Launching Ceremony which was held the previous afternoon. He explained how the APWF concept was born from the Regional Preparatory Process of the 4th World Water Forum and that now that the pieces were in place, it was time to move forward.

He also explained that this meeting was not a meeting of the APWC Governing Council, but rather a general meeting of the APWF and thus opened to all participants.

Mr. Oda closed by introducing the members of the APWF Governing Council.

 4. Greeting from the Chair of the Governing Council

A video message from Mr. Tommy Koh, Ambassador-At-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and Chair of the APWF Governing Council, was presented.

 5. Announcement of Lead Organizations for each Key Result Area (KRA) and Priority Theme, as well as the Sub-regional coordinators

The APWF Secretariat presented the Lead Organizations as follows:

• For the Priority Themes; ADB (Water Financing), ICHARM and WMO (Disaster Management), and IUCN (Water for Development &Ecosystems).
• For the KRA’s; Singapore PUB (Developing Knowledge & Lessons), Streams of Knowledge (Increasing Local capacity), ADB (Increasing Public Outreach), UNESCAP (Monitoring Investments and Results), and JWF (Supporting Forum & Summit).
• For the Sub-Regional Coordinators; GWP-CACENA and EC-IFAS (Central Asia), Korea Water Forum (Northeast Asia), GWP-SAS (South Asia), GWP-SEA (Southeast Asia), and SOPAC (Pacific).

IUCN mentioned that they are in discussion with FAO to become a partner Lead Organization and that FAO should thus be added to the matrix.

ADB welcomed participants to the meeting and offered the continued of its staff in view of the difficult conditions brought about by the typhoon. ADB expressed their commitment to double its water financing in the region over the next 5 years, and they are therefore pleased to serve as Lead Organization for Water Financing (Priority Theme A). With regard to Increasing Public Outreach (KRA#3), ADB acknowledged that investments are not everything and remains convinced that real solutions begin in the minds of people. The ADB admitted they are not necessarily a regional expert in public outreach, although they have been increasingly involved in this area. Thus, ADB will work (with partners) towards setting up and/or strengthening an organization specialized in public outreach that can, in turn, take the lead for this KRA.

Singapore PUB congratulated the ADB and JWF for their work in creating the APWF. Singapore PUB also expressed its enthusiasm at having Mr. Tommy Koh as Chair of the Governing Council of the APWF and thanked Ms. Erna Witoelar for chairing this meeting. Singapore PUB said they were honored to be the Lead Organization for Developing Knowledge & Lessons (KRA#1) and look forward to contributing to – and learning from – the APWF process.

UNSG Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation expressed their happiness to work with the APWF, adding that they are seeking achieve greater progress by working more actively in the Asia-Pacific region and recognizing the need for greater Asian participation in the global water and sanitation discussions.

UNHabitat noted that they were active in all areas of the APWF matrix and were thus interested in participating. UNHabitat offered to assist Streams of Knowledge by co-leading Increasing Local Capacity (KRA#2).

ICHARM, which was recently established under UNESCO-IHP, expressed their appreciation for being selected as Lead Organization for Disaster Management (Priority Theme C) and their commitment to make meaningful contributions to the APWF process.

UNESCAP expressed the best wishes from their Executive Secretary for the successful advancement of the APWF and reminded participants how they had participated in the announcement of the APWF during the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City. UNESCAP stated that they were keen to meet the challenge of leading and coordinating the KRA for monitoring investments & results (KRA#4) in the region.

The Chair mentioned that a recent publication Asia Water Watch, prepared in partnership with the ADB, would likely be of invest to most meeting participants.

Delegates from China expressed their happiness in attending the meeting and congratulated the ADB and JWF for their outstanding work in preparing the meeting. They mentioned that their country supports 25% of the World’s population with only 7% of its arable land, and that with China is on track to meet the MDGs for water and sanitation, the country is eager to share experiences with the rest of the region. Indeed, China pays great attention to collaborating with Asian countries and sees the APWF as an excellent platform through which to do so. The Chinese delegates expressed a certain disappointment that had entered the APWF process too late to have been appointed as a Lead Organization, but confirmed their willingness to work within the APWF framework.

The Chair thanked China for its offer to contribute noting that there was more than enough work to allow for meaningful contributions by all interested parties.

IUCN thanked the meeting organizers and expressed their congratulations for the successful establishment of the APWF. As previously mentioned, IUCN are eager to work with FAO (as co-leader) and other partners to expand upon broader issues within the Priority Theme on Waster for Development and Ecosystems.

Streams of Knowledge thanked meeting organizers and expressed how they were looking forward to taping into the APWF network and establish links with those who have already started doing the job, mentioning that they were open to involving people and organizations throughout the region in pursuing results under KRA #2 (Increasing Local Capacity).

GWP expressed their appreciation to the APWF for already including several of the GWP’s sub-regional partnerships as sub-regional coordinators. GWP was particularly happy to learn that FAO would now be involved, since the irrigated agriculture sector accounts for 70% of freshwater use, and noted that even slight increases in the modernization of irrigation methods and infrastructure would result in a great deal of water being released for use by other sectors.

The JWF proceeded to introduce their liaison staff delegated to each of the Priority Themes, KRAs and sub-regions.

 6. Concept Paper of the APWF

The APWF Secretariat presented the proposed governance structure of the APWF.

ADB described how the first few years shall be important in determining the “face” of an organization such as APWF, such that the perception of the APWF as an open and consensus-based network should be promoted. Therefore, all Lead Organizations within the APWF “matrix” should be considered as equal and that strategic decisions regarding APWF should be attained unanimously through consensus. All member organization are working toward the same cause and there is enough work for all. However, it is important each Lead Organizations take responsibility for making progress within the APWF. The Governing Council should serve to guide the overall process, whereas the President and Advisors are needed to drive the political process.

The Chinese delegates suggested that the governance of the APWF should not be too rigid, remarking that what is most needed is a “working” Forum, as opposed to a “talking” Forum. They noted that there was to be a G77 Summit on Water next year in Oman and added that it was important that the governance structure be more attractive for members/users as well as leaders (especially in the context of the Summit). Therefore, by-laws and the leadership structure need to be worked out and the rules by which members can be included need to be considered. In considering how best to attract key leaders, the Chinese delegation suggested creating a position for a Vice-President that would serve to provide additional influence at the highest level.

The Chair agreed that the APWF needed to create synergy with the G77.

UNHabitat recognized the need to a concept note describing the Summit and the type/level of participants that should be targeted.

GWP reiterated China’s point recognizing the need to give the Summit legitimacy in order to attract state leaders on board.

 7. Preparation towards the 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit, 2007

The APWF Secretariat presented some preliminary proposals about the Summit, to be held over a two day period in Japan in 2007. The concept behind the Summit is that the issues are not just a question for water ministers, but they call for the participation of decision-makers at the highest level. Therefore, we need to establish a basic structure to attract key heads of state.

The Chair added that the Summit is meant to showcase commitments. This will in turn require a lot of homework in order to prepare the leaders for coming – i.e., to determine what commitments will they be announcing. The work of the Lead Organizations must thus be geared towards what we want to eventually put forward on the table at the Summit.

UNHabitat added that a strong diplomatic/political process is required to identify whether or not key state leaders would be coming. UNHabitat also expressed concern with the proposal to include a plenary session, which they deem inappropriate for such a high-level event as the Summit.

UNESCAP observed that the APWF required two approaches, a technical approach for the Forum itself and a political approach for the Summit, and that some sort of steering committee was needed for each. With regard to the latter, it is important the steering committee include key countries and we need to focus on how to make such a steering committee workable, for example by linking it to the UN system.

The Chair remarked that it was important to show leaders that there would be “something in it for them” in order for them to come.

 8. Membership of the APWF

The APWF Secretariat proposed a set of membership criteria.

Participants agreed with the criteria.

IUCN expressed the need to clarify the membership process and rights and responsibilities of members.

Mr. Ravi Narayanan, former Chief Executive of WaterAid and Co-Chair of the APWF Governing Council, noted the APWF is seeking practical outcomes from its members and we should thus have a clear idea of what we want to communicate to our members in order to benefit from their participation. However, this process should not be delayed by discussions over by-laws, rights, and other such things.

 9. Progress of activities by lead organizations and the timetable for follow-up activities

ICHARM will be holding a meeting immediately following this one in order to establish the Taskforce of the Disaster Management Priority Theme (composition, objectives, etc.).

Streams of Knowledge welcomed UNHabitat’s proposal to serve as co-leader for KRA#2 and called for a small group meeting in order to generate feedback over a concept note that was distributed to meeting participants.

Although the general concepts are already imbedded into their Asia-Water Program, IUCN explained that they had just begun to think about how best to approach the Water for Development & Ecosystems Priority Theme, in part through the discussions initiated with FAO.

UNESCAP has been seeking to create and strengthen linkages with related on-going activities.

ADB shall explore how to expand membership under the public outreach theme by creating new partnerships and identifying potential organizations. ADB will also prepare a concept paper.

Singapore PUB is currently setting up a “’knowledge hub” (ATRIUM) through which much their APWF-related work will be coordinated.

China reiterated their point concerning the need to ensure critical commitment from the highest levels of decision-making and thus suggested the appointment of one (or more) Vice-Presidents, which would be different from the Advisors as currently proposed for the overall management structure. China also commended the JWF for hosting the APWF Secretariat and suggested other countries should also contribute staff to the Secretariat. China closed by asking about when and how decisions will be made about the different unanswered questions.

 10. Other matters

Time did not permit discussion on other matters.

 11. Closing of the session

Mr. Ravi Narayanan, Co-Chair of the APWF Governing Council, deliver closing remarks along three main points.

First, that agreement has been reached concerning the why and why now of the APWF: because it is the UN Decade for Water, because of the importance of meeting the MDGs for water and the recognition that solving water problems is essential to meeting the other MDGs on health and poverty reduction, and because water is an increasingly seen as a critical issue for the Asia-Pacific region. Also, the Asia-Pacific is indeed a “can do” region that can provide innovative solutions and is thus positioned to show leadership at the global level.

Second, the core output from the APWF process lies with the Lead Organziations. It is therefore essential that these operate in an open and transparent manner and that they commit themselves to efforts to expanding the membership base and to encourage active contributions from the members. By focusing on the MDGs as a basis for our work, we must seek to bring forward achievable solutions to the Summit in order for it to have an impact.

Finally, we must all be aware that the Summit is approaching incredibly fast, and this will be a crucial test for the APWF and all its members. It is a critical challenge, and together we shall rise to it.

The Chair officially closed the meeting.