final report the asia-pacific regional process for the 7th world … · 2018. 5. 17. · final...

i

Final Report

The Asia-Pacific Regional Process For the 7th World Water Forum

2015-06-10

The Secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum

7th World Water Forum

ii


Contents

1 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................... 1

Key messages from regional priority themes ..................................................................................... 1 1.1

2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 8

Background ......................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1

Regional Overview .............................................................................................................................. 8 2.2

Overall Progress ............................................................................................................................... 10 2.3

Regional Design Coordinators and Partners .................................................................................... 12 2.4

3 Regional Issues ........................................................................................................................................ 14

Session 1: “Living with Water in Cities for Tomorrow” (inter-regional session for Europe, Arab and 3.1

Asia-Pacific regions) ..................................................................................................................................... 14

Session 2: Water and Energy Efficiency for Green Growth .............................................................. 20 3.2

Session 3: Successfully managing Asia’s transitions to achieve food and nutrition security for all 3.3

and build vibrant rural communities in a water secure and prosperous Asia Pacific region ...................... 27

Session 4: Climate Change adaptation and mitigation in Africa, Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe and 3.4

the Mediterranean region/ Building resilience to water-related disasters in the Asia-Pacific region ........ 35

Session 5: SMART Implementation of IWRM / Future IWRM in Asia-Pacific -What we have 3.5

achieved and outlook by focusing on river basin level & Over the framework of knowledge- .................. 40

Session 6: Special issue session ‘Development of Cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin to Mitigate 3.6

Consequences of the Environmental Catastrophe’ ..................................................................................... 44

Session 7: Integrated Ecosystem Management of Trans-boundary River in Northeast Asia .......... 54 3.7

Session 8: Korea-Japan-China Trilateral Forum on Water Resources: “Trilateral Cooperation for 3.8

Water Policy Innovation in Response to Persistent and Emerging Water Challenges” ............................... 56

4 Regional issues Synthesis (Final Session) ................................................................................................ 61

Final Regional Session: The Asia-Pacific Regional Synthesis & Commitment Session ..................... 61 4.1

Key messages ................................................................................................................................... 62 4.2

5 Outcomes ................................................................................................................................................ 63

Recommendations ........................................................................................................................... 64 5.1

Follow-up steps after the 7th World Water Forum ........................................................................... 65 5.2

6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 65

7 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 66

Annexes ........................................................................................................................................................... 67

1


1 Executive Summary

This report provides the overview of the Asia-Pacific regional process for the 7th World Water

Forum which took place in Korea in April 2015. The Asia-Pacific regional process was initiated by

the Secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) and subsequently the regional kick-off

meeting was organized by the official regional process coordinators, the APWF and the Korea

Water Forum (KWF), in June 2014. The 7th World Water Forum provided the opportunity for the

APWF to address a wide variety of issues which are in need of the strongest response to provide

suitable solutions and to synthesize the regional efforts as well as to foster multi-stakeholder

collaboration to tackle water challenges.

In commitment to water security in the Asia-Pacific region, several organizations of the APWF and

the regional water organizations have proposed 11 issues/themes to this end. Each issue/theme

was explored and elaborated in depth by regional theme leaders. The background of the issues,

the challenges to overcome and the prospects for water security through the lens of respective

themes can be found in the documents prepared by regional theme leaders attached to this report.

The Asia-Pacific region chose its priorities around the themes of:

1. Water and Cities

2. Water and Green Growth

3. Water and Food security

4. Water related Disaster

5. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)

6. Rural Water and Sanitation

7. Development of Cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin

8. Trans-boundary Rivers in Northeast Asia

9. Korea- Japan-China Trilateral Cooperation

10. Hydrological Services

11. Inter-regional cooperation between the Caribbean and the Pacific

Key messages from regional priority themes 1.1

The following key messages were collected from the thematic focal points for the Asia-Pacific

region.

Water and Cities (United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization)

Message 1: Governments are called to move from rhetoric to real actions as part of the

post 2015 agenda to reduce rapidly intensifying environmental footprints of cities in Asia

and the Pacific region.

2

Message 2: Investment banks and local developers need to invest in eco biotechnologies

for big scale implementation.

Message 3: The transition is possible and needs three necessary enabling conditions:

a) A social inclusive system led by strong political support b) A fully enforced legal system clearly defining responsibilities between stakeholders, c) A clear and secured financial commitment for operational stages of new

technologies.

Water and Green Growth (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific & Korea Water Resources Cooperation)

Message 1: Green Growth is a crucial paradigm and development strategy, which can end

the vicious cycle of economic growth that is resource-intensive and quantitative. Green

Growth paradigm is anticipated to replace the vicious cycle with a virtuous cycle of

economic development that is resource-efficient and qualitative. Sustainable and efficient

water resources management is central to realizing green growth, and to address many

water-related challenges specific to Asia-Pacific region.

Message 2: Green growth and water resources management strategies must be context-

specific not only to address water-related challenges unique to the adopting state but

should consider its political and socio-economic particularities and needs.

・ Enhance understanding on water cycle (for all sectors), research and development

investment in water re-use and to increase water use efficiency

・ Preventative, adaptive resilience planning for water-related challenges, such as for

disasters (75% of global disasters occur in the AP region imposing major costs to

societies and industries)

・ A need for adequate urban water resources planning from initial stages in response to

rapid urbanization and population growth (urban population expected to exceed 50%

by 2026) in different cities of the AP

Message 3: Strong leadership and political commitment is essential to Water and Green

Growth, with indicative planning to legalise and institutionalise related policies for

consistency and successful completion of Water and Green Growth projects.

・ Convince the decision makers to promote Water and Green Growth by identifying and

sharing case studies

・ A need for Water and Green Growth Index to measure performance

3

Water and Food Security (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)

Message 1: The region is facing two transitions: a structural transformation of agriculture in the context of fast economic growth and a necessary transition to sustainable agriculture to maintain its narrow natural resources base. The challenge for decision-makers and stakeholders is managing both transitions at the same time sustainably and equitably, meeting the aspirations of farming and rural communities. Decisions on key policy options and critical details will require clarity on major socio economic orientations and societal preferences related to the structural transformation of the agricultural sector within the overall transformation of the national economies and the transition to green development patterns. In order to achieve a coherent, effective and feasible set of policies, strategies and interventions explicitly addressing the following policy dilemmas, through trade-offs and their inherent difficulties, will be critical:

・ Managing transitions: supporting resilience or a combination of improvements and exit

strategies;

・ Managing the informality of the water economies;

・ Economic water productivity vs. equity and other strategic goals;

・ Resource use efficiency vs. resilience and redundancy;

・ Possibly diverging national, river basin and local objectives;

・ Political feasibility: “ideal” vs. second-best options ; and

・ Realistic financial arrangements and economic prospects for water operators and

farmers vs. incentives for performance.

Message 2: The region’s water and food security will hinge upon rural prosperity. The following vision for water and food security in Asia and the Pacific is therefore proposed, in conjunction with the Sustainable Development Goals to 2030:

“Food and nutrition security for all and vibrant rural communities in a water-secure Asia-Pacific, through managing the region's multiple social and economic transitions equitably and sustainably”.

Message 3: Countries are called upon to invest and provide an enabling environment for farmers, civil society and private sector investment in Key Action Areas, seen as levers to accelerate reaching the vision:

1. Implementing sound and innovative water accounting and auditing to support

decision-making and management 2. Evolving risk management strategies for national food security policies under water

constraints and economic transitions 3. Adapting agricultural and rural water management to promote a renewed focus on

ensuring farmer and rural prosperity for managing socio-economic transitions sustainably: plotting new futures for irrigation and drainage under long-term vision

4. Supporting investments boosting ecosystem and water productivity, maintaining water quality across agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, irrigation and drainage-recognizing its multiple services- and their e-supply chains and supporting rural transformations

5. Managing the changing dynamics of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

4

6. Capacity development

Climate Change and Water related Disasters (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development)

Message 1: Emerging technologies and strengthened ‘end-to-end’ information systems can

build flood resilience.

To build flood resilience, greater focus should be placed on emerging technologies and

strengthened information systems. Institutional arrangements are required for executing

‘end-to-end systems’ that help convey early warning messages to the ‘last mile’ at

community and household levels.

Such an approach based on an information systems perspective requires immediate action

on five major fronts: (1) Investment in modern hydro-met stations to collect and store data;

(2) investment in information and communication technologies, both terrestrial and

satellite-based, to transmit data in real-time; (3) development of appropriate policies and

mechanisms for a supportive interface between existing institutions at the national and

community levels; (4) development of institutional arrangements from end to end clearly

specifying who would be responsible for sending flood alerts up to the ’last mile’; and (5)

investment in capacity building through training programmes for government institutions

and community-based organizations

Message 2: Index-based weather insurance can support improved drought resilience.

To build drought resilience, risks can be managed by developing appropriate institutions for

risk pooling and insurance with a focus on insurance products, such as index-based weather

insurance.

Such an approach based on the financial risk management perspective would require action

on five major fronts: (1) Investment in hydro-met networks to ensure the availability of

accurate and timely weather data; (2) engagement with non-governmental organizations as

social mobilizers to raise awareness of the benefits of insurance products among farmers

and cooperative institutions; (3) investment in scientific endeavours to reduce the basis risk

by increasing the correlation of the index used for weather insurance with actual crop

yields; (4) engagement with the private and the public sectors by developing risk-layered

schemes of insurance arrangements in which the private sector will solely insure droughts

of low severity, and the government will subsidize the insurance for droughts of high

severity; and (5) development of reinsurance markets to encourage the participation of

private insurance companies and for risk-pooling with international insurance markets.

Message 3: Evidence-based risk assessments are essential in promoting water-related

disaster risk management.

5

‘ Evidence-based’ risk assessments are needed to improve water-related disaster

management. Such an approach is essential for identifying the target risk and developing

risk management strategies for emergency action, land use management, and preventive

investments.

The evidence-based risk assessment approach uses field data on past hazards, and resulting

disasters, to correlate hazards with disasters, making the assessment more accurate by

reflecting the actual field conditions. This approach clarifies how effectively the target risk

will be reduced. It would also help to assess the appropriateness of preventive investment

projects by simulating reduced disaster damages and losses in economic terms. In addition,

it would serve as an input to plan insurance schemes.

Integrated Water Resources Management (Network of Asian River Basin Organization)

Message: In general, we can say that issues on water especially focusing IWRM are Too

much water, Too little water, Too dirty water, Transboundary, Implementation of IWRM,

Climate Change and IWRM, Capacity building, and Science and IWRM as key words.

Seeing the current situation on IWRM in Asia-Pacific region, we can see many good and

innovative case studies on IWRM, and IWRM has already implemented in a single river

basin in major river basin thanks to many initiatives. However, we have still issues of

expansion of IWRM to unapplied basin in the country, sub-basin or transboundary basin,

and it has already recognized widely. In addition, we have also recognized the knowledge

gaps between researchers and practitioners and among practitioners to implement IWRM

in developing plans and implementation of IWRM, although we’ve already on the phase of

more focusing on implementation of IWRM.

To bridge the gaps, simple indicator to measure the progress of IWRM and show the next

steps which is applicable to all levels of IWRM, capacity development of all levels and

expansion of IWRM especially in Transboundary and community level should be needed in

Asia-Pacific region. To make it happen, more dialogue with stakeholders in the basin,

involvement of stakeholders concerned and networking into or over the level of IWRM are

indispensable.

Rural Water and Sanitation (Asian Development Bank & PLAN International)

Message 1: Community empowerment and community participation improves governance,

innovation, infrastructure quality, cost effectiveness, and the sustainability of projects

Message 2: Youth are vital links to communities and valuable members of civil society

Message 3: Youth are innovative, energetic and knowledgeable. If further engaged and

empowered, they can drive changes needed in improving water and sanitation in Asia.

6

Development of Cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin (Global Water Partnership for Caucasus and Central Asia)

Message 1: Strengthening of cooperation within IFAS- to ensure close interaction between

the Member States of IFAS to address water and environmental problems of the Aral Sea

Basin; strengthen the capacity of the executive bodies of IFAS; and utilize the potential and

advantages of IFAS in addressing regional issues. The measures to promote and develop

dialogue within the IFAS should be supported in order to achieve consensus between the

countries

Message 2: Ensuring implementation of the ASBP-3- it is necessary to take urgent measures

to implement the regional and national ASBP-3 programs and projects, and, in this regard

the financial and technical institutions and donor governments should be extensively

involves; to ensure greater involvement of the executive bodies of the IFAS for more

effective implementation of ASBP-3 regional projects

Message 3: Solution of the Aral Sea problems- given the enormity of the Aral Sea disaster

and the problems to be solved, it is necessary to consolidate the efforts of the international

community to eliminate the negative consequences of the Aral Sea desiccation and reduce

its damaging effects on the environment and livelihoods of millions of people living in the

Aral Sea region.

Integrated Ecosystem Management of Trans-boundary Rivers in Northeast Asia (Korea Water

Forum)

Message: For effective management of transboundary ecosystem, three elements need to

be established;

1. Legal and institutional framework for the transboundary ecosystem management 2. Information sharing among stakeholders, such as GIS and data sources for the

development of Joint project 3. Application of best practices with International Corporation

Korea-Japan-China Trilateral Cooperation (Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat)

Message: Korea, Japan and China have contributed to the development of water resources

management and policy innovation. Establishing a trilateral expert framework will contribute to

promote the future trilateral cooperation on water resources.

1. Establishing a regular trilateral mechanism to share national know-how

2. Conducting a river basin comparative research project (development, plan,

management, implementation and impact)

7

3. Gathering water-related working groups from the three countries and planning

practical projects (NARBO is a good tool)

4. Establishing a research group on water resources management/ conducting common

research on water history in Northeast Asia

Hydrological Services (Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology)

Message 1: Asia has experienced the full range of deadly floods, storms, landslides,

earthquakes, drought and extreme weather

Message 2: Economic losses continue to rise exponentially

Message 3: Asia has experienced human-induced changes including population growth,

increased urbanization, land use changes, increased water use demands, increased climate

variability and climate change

Message 4: National Hydrological Services in the region are becoming increasingly

important and need to improve capabilities in:

・ data observations, their management and sharing

・ flood forecasting and warnings

・ water resource assessment

・ sediment (land slide and debris flow) disaster management,

・ drought, flood and water resources management

8

2 Introduction

Background 2.1

Water is a fundamental resource and as such its sustainable management is at the heart of human security and the social and economic development of nations. Over the past few decades, several areas of the Asia-Pacific region have experienced notable progress in various aspects of water management, including access to water resources and coverage of related services. Due to rapid population growth, economic expansion and urbanization, however, there are still significant shortfalls in meeting the region’s water-related needs. In the face of the region’s pressing water problems, the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) was created in 2006 at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico. The APWF’s overriding mandate has been to ensure that water policy, reform, investment and performance are high on the minds of our region’s leaders. Accordingly, the APWF issued the Policy Brief 2007 and hosted the 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit (APWS) at which the Message from Beppu was endorsed by the regional heads of government and leaders who participated. At the 5th World Water Forum, the APWF served as the Forum’s regional coordinating organization for the Asia-Pacific region and followed up on the initiatives and commitments made at the 1st APWS. At the 6th World Water Forum, the APWF’s key organizations and partners developed regional issues, targets and solutions and formulated recommendations for heads of government and leaders to be assembled at the 2nd APWS. Continuing and building on the guiding theme of the 1st APWS, the 2nd APWS was organized under the theme of “Water Security: Leadership and Commitment” focusing on six focus areas: Household Water Security; Economic, Food and Water Security; Urban Water Security; Environmental Water Security; Water Risks and Resilience; and IWRM. The key messages which were contributed by the thematic leaders of six focus areas were assembled and handed to the participating regional leaders. The Chiang Mai Declaration was issued to further the water agenda in the region by offering tangible proposals to leaders and to heighten water issues on the agenda of major political events.

Regional Overview 2.2

The total population of the Asia-Pacific region currently stands at about 4.4 billion accounting for nearly 60% of the world’s population. According to UN projections, the regional population is expected to continue to grow to 5.1 billion by 2050. Expanding populations will increase demands for water for drinking, hygiene, and food production, and increases in waste water discharges of all sorts, and will thus have a severe impact on the environment and natural resources. Coupled with the population increase, the Asia-Pacific region is one of the most rapidly urbanizing areas in the world, with urban populations growing at 2.3% annually. Asia is today home to 53 % of the urban population in the world. Especially cities in Southeast Asia, followed by those in East Asia and South Asia, are growing the fastest. By 2050, Asia’s urban population will likely to

9

increase by 61% according to the UN’s projection on world urbanization.1 The rapid urban population growth has outpaced the investment capacity of the now urban administrations. Wastewater is often released into rivers, lakes and groundwater aquifers in an untreated or only partially treated state. Furthermore, 80% of Asia’s rivers are in poor health, jeopardizing economies and the quality of life. The rate of growth also poses serious challenges for water service providers, who must develop new water sources, extend networks, and keep up with the demand for new connections. As the region continues to urbanize, building sustainable cities and necessary infrastructure for water and sanitation will be essential. Many countries in Asia have experienced rapid economic growth over the past decades and it is projected that the high growth rate will continue in the years to come. The economic growth and the population increase are expected to result in a dramatic increase in energy consumption. As the region will continue to be a source of global economic strength, the water-energy nexus will be a critical issue to be addressed. Food security still remains an urgent and significant concern in the region. Agriculture in Asia accounts for over 80% of annual average water withdrawals. 2The agriculture sector is the first and foremost to be effected by global trends such as population increase, economic growth, and climate change. Agriculture production requires the stable supply of water and yet many farmers in the region are being affected by water scarcity and water availability is expected to decrease. Moreover, increase in the agricultural production will in turn increase both water and energy consumption. It is also important to note that inequitable growth in rural areas means that those farming communities are left behind, so there needs to be a vision on rural prosperity to underpin water and food security in the region. Thus, water allocation should be wisely managed between water-using sectors, as well as the strategic policy interventions in the agricultural sector will be essential to manage the transition to the sustainable agriculture future. Between 1990 and 2012, over 2.3 billion people gained access to improved sources of drinking water, out of which 1.6 billion people gained access to piped water supply on the premises. By 2011, the Asia-Pacific regional population has met the MDG drinking water target. An estimated 1.5 billion people have gained access to safe drinking water.3 India and China were the biggest contributors to both regional and global increases in the coverage. Despite the overall regional achievements, there were still 360 million people lacking access to safe drinking water in 2011. Furthermore, there is variation in the extent of achievement both among and within sub-regions, within countries and between social groups. Improved access to basic sanitation still remains a bigger challenge globally and regionally. Between 1990 and 2012, over 2 billion people have gained access to improved sanitation facilities globally.4 Although the percentage of people with access to improved sanitation facilities rose from 33% in 1990 to 59% in 2012, 1.67 billion people in Asia and the Pacific continue to live

1 World Urbanization Prospects(The 2014 Revision): http://esa.un.org/unpd/wup/Highlights/WUP2014-Highlights.pdf 2 FAO aquastat (Update: September 2014): http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/tables/WorldData-Withdrawal_eng.pdf 3 The Millennium Development Goals Report 2014: http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/Static/Products/Progress2014/English2014.pdf 4 WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation Database: http://www.wssinfo.org/data-estimates/tables/ Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2013 (ESCAP): http://www.unescap.org/stat/data/syb2013/D.2-Access-to-water-and-sanitation.asp

10

without access to improved sanitation. More than 750 million people still suffer the indignity of practicing open defecation, and more than 650 million of these people live in South Asia. Open defecation or even a primitive outbuilding toilet contributes not only to poor hygiene or fatal disease but also constitutes an infringement of privacy.

Overall Progress 2.3

Since its creation in 2006 at the 4th World Water Forum, the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) has been mandated to ensure that water policy, reform, investment and performance are high on the minds of our region’s leaders. Accordingly, the APWF issued the Policy Brief 2007 and hosted the 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit (APWS) at which the Message from Beppu was endorsed by the regional heads of government and leaders who participated. At the 5th World Water Forum, the APWF served as the Forum’s regional coordinating organization for the Asia-Pacific and followed up on the initiatives and commitments made at the 1st APWS. At the 6th World Water Forum, again as the coordinator for the Asia-Pacific region, the APWF’s key organizations and partners developed regional issues, targets and solutions and formulated recommendations for heads of government and leaders to be assembled at the 2nd APWS. Continuing and building on the guiding theme of the 1st APWS, the 2nd APWS was organized under the theme of “Water Security: Leadership and Commitment” focusing on six focus areas: Household Water Security; Economic, Food and Water Security; Urban Water Security; Environmental Water Security; Water Risks and Resilience; and IWRM. The key messages were assembled and issued as the Chiang Mai Declaration to further the water agenda in the region by offering tangible proposals to leaders and to heighten water issues on the agenda of major political events. As such, guided by its original mandate, the APWF has been playing a key role in fostering activities and implementing actions on a regional platform to address the region’s most pressing water challenges. For the 7th World Water Forum, the APWF and the Korea Water Forum have been designated as the coordinators of the Asia-Pacific Regional Design Group and hence lead the Asia-Pacific regional process of the 7th World Water Forum according to the policies and roadmaps presented by the Regional Process Commission (RPC) of the 7th World Water Forum. The preparatory process in the Asia-Pacific has been initiated by the APWF Secretariat and the Korea Water Forum in March 2014 after the 2nd Stakeholders Consultation Meeting of the 7th World Water in Korea, where guidelines for the regional process was finally confirmed. The APWF Secretariat has then deliberated with many key regional stakeholders on the process development, while determining the action roadmap towards 2015 including the preparation for the first Preview Session, which was one of the mandates for the regional coordinators. The Asia-Pacific Regional Kick-off Meeting (The Preview Session) was organized by the APWF and the Korea Water Forum in June 2014 in Singapore at the occasion of the Singapore International Water Week 2014 hosted by the Singapore PUB. Regional stakeholders who have expressed interest in engaging with the regional process were all invited, including those who came to the 2nd Stakeholders Consultation Meeting in February 2014 in Korea. During the meeting, the Asia-Pacific regional process initially identified its priorities around the theme of 1) water and cities; 2) water and green growth; 3) water and food security; 4) water related disaster; 5) Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM); and 6) rural water and sanitation. Accordingly, theme leaders and team members were identified. Also, the funding provision from the 7th World Water Forum

11

to the Regional Design Group was informed and the funding allocation was discussed and agreed by members of the Design Group. The 2nd Regional Preparatory Meeting (The 2nd Preview Session) was again organized by the APWF and Korea Water Forum in November 2014 in Seoul, Korea. The meeting shed a light on the various issues concerning the Asia-Pacific regional process and provided the opportunity for the session coordinators to provide status reports on the preparation of their sessions. It was confirmed that the regional priority themes have been well developed and the session preparation was progressing in line with the schedule provided by the RPC. In addition to the formal regional preparatory meetings stated above, there have been a number of informal/ formal consultation and preparatory meetings involving the regional design group, session groups and sub-regional coordinators from June 2014 to March 2015. The list of all the meetings and activities related to the Asia-Pacific regional process is as follows:

June 5-6, 2014 First Preview Meeting for the 7th World Water Forum & 15th APWF Governing Council Meeting,

Singapore

July 8-9, 2014 Central Asian sub-regional Preparatory Conference for the 7th World Water Forum, Dushanbe,

Tajikistan

July 9-12, 2014 3rd Asia Pacific Youth Parliament for Water, Republic of Korea

September 3, 2014 1st Expert Group meeting on Water & Green Growth for the 7th World Water Forum at the

Stockholm World Water Week

September 29, 2014 1st Korea-Japan-China Trilateral Consultation Meeting on Water Resources, Seoul, Republic of

Korea

September 30 – October 2, 2014 Working Group on Hydrological Services Regional Association II (Asia) , Seoul, Republic of Korea

October 28-29, 2014 International Conference on the Implementation of Regional Projects in the Aral Sea Basin,

Urgench, Uzbekistan

November 20, 2014 2nd Expert Group meeting on Water & Green Growth for the 7th World Water Forum, Seoul,

Republic of Korea

November 10-12, 2014 International Conference in Ecohydrology 2014 “Ecohydrology Approaches Facing The Global

Water Environment Challenges”, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

12

November 19, 2014 2nd Regional Preview Meeting for the 7th World Water Forum & 16th APWF Governing Council

Meeting, Seoul, Republic of Korea

December 2014 – February 2015 FAO Regional eConference on water and food security (http://asia-water.org)

February 11, 2015 2nd Korea-Japan-China Consultation Meeting on Water Resources, Seoul, Republic of Korea

February 18, 2015 IWRM Workshop for the 7th World Water Forum, Bangkok, Thailand

February 23-25, 2015 3rd Expert Group meeting on Water & Green Growth for the 7th World Water Forum, Bangkok,

Thailand

February 24-26, 2015 South East Asia Water Footprint Course, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

March 10-12, 2015 Strategic meeting of IHP-HELP, Ecohydrology and Water Security in Urban Settings, Asia Pacific

Pre-meeting to the 7th World Water Forum, Sustainable Water Management Study in Medan City,

Tools for Customizing IWRM Guidelines for Water Security in Asia and the Pacific: Challenges and

Opportunities for HELP and Ecohydrology, Jakarta, Indonesia

September 2014 – April 2015 Rural Water and Sanitation Youth Solutions Competition

April 12-17, 2015 7th World Water Forum, Daegu & Gyeongju, Republic of Korea

June 10, 2015 Final Preview Meeting for the 7th World Water Forum & 17th APWF Governing Council Meeting,

Singapore

Regional Design Coordinators and Partners 2.4

Region Sub-region Organization Focal Point Country Role

Pan-

regional

Secretariat of APWF

Ms. Yoshie Tonohara

Japan DG member/ Regional coordinator

KWF Dr. Sangyoung Park

Korea

DG member/ Regional co-coordinator/Session coordinator

ADB Ms. Yasmin Siddiqi

DG member/Session group member

13

ICHARM Dr. Masahiko Murase

Japan DG member/Session group member

FAO Mr. Thierry Facon

DG member/ session coordinator

PUB Mr. Tiing Liang Moh

Singapore DG member

UNESCO Dr..Shahbaz Khan

DG member/ Session coordinator

UNESCAP Dr. Salmah Zakaria

DG member/ Session coordinator

K-water Mr. Taesun Shin Partner/Session coordinator

Sub-region

-

GWP

Organization Mr. Francois Brikke

Sweden

DG member/ Sub regional coordinator

Central Asia GWP CACENA Dr. Vadim

Sokolov Uzbekistan

Northeast Asia KWF Ms. Heather Lee Korea

South Asia GWP SAS

Ms. Priyanka Dissanayake Mr. Lal Induruwage

Sri Lanka

South East Asia GWP SEA Mr. Djoko Sasongko

Indonesia

(China) GWP China Ms. Yilin Ma China Partner

14

3 Regional Issues

Session 1: “Living with Water in Cities for Tomorrow” (inter-regional 3.1session for Europe, Arab and Asia-Pacific regions)

3.1.1 Session Overview

The session was organized as a sub-session within the inter-regional session grouping Europe, Arab region and Asia-Pacific region under the theme Water in Cities and entitled “Living with Water in Cities for tomorrow”.

3.1.2 Progress

The following actions were proposed and undertaken during the period November 2014-April

2015:

Action 1: Organise a regional meeting on “Water in Asia’s Cities of the Future”

Action 2: Develop a Regional Focal Group on Urban Water Management

Action 3: Develop a white paper and vision on UWM

Action 4: Develop a regional Flagship Programme as a follow up to the 7th World Water

Forum

Action 5: Conduct the session at the 7th World Water Forum.

Actions 1 and 2 were performed during the following activities as described below:



The following three regional meetings were organized to debate on the state of art of

ecohydrology/ecotechnology solutions and how ecohydrology/ecotechnology solutions can be

implemented in the region as global solutions to reach urban water security.

1) 10-12 November 2014: International Conference in Ecohydrology 2014 “Ecohydrology

Approaches Facing The Global Water Environment Challenges” in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

(as UNESCO contribution)

2) 24-26 February 2015: South East Asia Water Footprint Course in Flamingo Hotel, Jalan

Ampang Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, In collaboration with IHE (as UNESCO Contribution).

3) 10-12 March 2015: Strategic meeting of IHP-HELP, Ecohydrology and Water Security in

Urban Settings, Asia Pacific Pre-meeting to the 7th World Water Forum, Sustainable

Water Management Study in Medan City, Tools for Customizing IWRM Guidelines for

Water Security in Asia and the Pacific: Challenges and Opportunities for HELP and

Ecohydrology in Grand Kemang Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia (as UNESCO contribution).

15

3.1.3 Session Coordinators and Partners

Organization Focal Point (Contact info)

Country Role Note

Session Coordinators

UNESCO Office Jakarta

Mr. Shahbaz Khan

Indonesia Session leader

Ms. Ai Sugiura Indonesia Assistant session leader

Session Co- Coordinators*

SDS-AP Ms. Olivia Castillo

Philippines Assisting financial matter

Session Group

PUB Mr. Moh Tiing Liang

Singapore

Contributor to white paper and keynote speaker

UN-Habitat Mr. Kulwant Singh

India Contributor

ESCAP Mr. Ram S. Tiwaree

Thailand

Contributor and/or panellist

APWS China

Suez Environment Mr. Alan Thompson

China

UNSGAB Ms. Olivia Castillo

Philippines

GWP Mongolia Mr. Davaa Basandorj

Mongolia

RCUWM-Tehran under the auspices of UNESCO

Mr. Ali Chavoshian

Iran

Japan Sanitation Consortium

Mr. Kazushi Hashimoto

Japan

3.1.4 Linkages to other regions (in case of Inter-Regional Sessions)

The theme “Implementing Ecotechnologies for Urban Water Management in Asia-Pacific” was

echoed into two other sessions UNESCO Office Jakarta was leading:

1) SMART Implementation of IWRM 3.4, Catchment approach for decentralization of integrated

water resource management (Thematic Process 3.4.3)

The goal of this session was to showcase how international programs such as the Hydrology for

Environment, Life and Policy (HELP), Ecohydrology approach of the UNESCOs International

hydrological Programme (IHP) as well as catchment/basin planning tools can be used for

promoting cost-effective and user oriented IWRM and to ensure water security at national,

regional and global levels.

16

2) Main Focus 5: Understanding and managing ecosystem services for water, Role of STI (Science,

Technology and Innovation) for ensuring ecosystem services. (Science & Technology Process

5.2)

The goal of the session was to help open the paradigm lock between science and technology

community and water policy makers who are struggling to manage complex interactions between

biological diversity, climate change, land use change and freshwater use limits and constraints. It

also focus on how science and technology can help avoid crossing four of the nine boundaries of

the Earth System processes recommended not to be crossed to avoid unacceptable environmental

change to humanity. With the following global actions identified:

There are already some good success stories in applying ecobiotechnologies, from city

landscape to wetland management, establishing good models of ecohydrologic water

management.

For intergeneration water equity and water security ecohydrology approach needs to be

included in water policy.


The Asia-Pacific sub-session took place after the Europe and Arab region session and the first very

important inter-regional conclusion was that all urban water security issues were common among

the regions with a need for a transition from current practices to a more integrative urban water

management including ecosystem approaches and therefore ecotechnologies.

Europe, with 75% of its citizens being urban, presented a much diversified palette in terms of

availability and efficiencies of water services delivered in urban areas. Even though advanced in

terms of institutional framework with an implemented Water Frame Directive (2000) and urban

water related directives, Europe region is still facing numerous challenges like climate change,

efficiency problem, water quality problem etc. As a solution, Europe region is aiming for a

transition in mindset described as a “circular economy” in which for example wastewater is not a

waste but a water resource and a nutrient resource, and some barriers in terms of public

acceptance and linking between urban and basin water governance have to be overcome. This

shall be possible through cooperation and sharing of experiences.

In Arab region, integrated urban water management limited implementation was discussed as the

expression of several factors:

the lack of benchmark for the region

the lack of capacity building and financial means

the lack of certified standard for the region

the lack of social participation and awareness on urban water and water issues in general

17

the need for more exchanges on existing water saving technologies.

As for the Asia-Pacific region, the current barriers for efficient urban water management and

transition to water secure cities were identified as governance problems. Details are given in the

next section.

3.1.6 Outputs and Achievements

3.1.6.1 Regional actions derived and conditions for their successful implementation

During Asia-Pacific sub-session, the current barriers for efficient urban water management and

transition to water secure cities were identified as governance problems. Indeed, there is the need

to emphasize on government capacity to enforce laws. Also, ecotechnologies as they rely on

natural system scales, in some countries, they are being implemented successfully through a

bottom-up approach. Therefore, there is a need to secure investments for ecotechnologies to

become accessible and implementable up to national level. Finally, because solving urban water

problems implies the interaction of stakeholders at multi-levels, there is a need to network with

the UN system which can act as an integrator of multi-level stakeholders.

Therefore UNESCO Office Jakarta will engage the regional focus group as group leader within

current and upcoming projects which shall serve as success stories and guidelines for successful

transition from conventional technologies led cities to ecotechnologies led cities of the future.

Also, in the white paper, the needs the following necessary enabling conditions were identified to

enable this transition:

Develop a base of use of ecobiotechnologies in the management of urban water systems

(Technical, economic, financial, social)

A socially inclusive system led by strong political support and stakeholder empowerment

A fully enforced legal system defining clearly responsibilities between stakeholders and

regulators

A clear and secured financial commitment for water security and sanitation across the

region supported at all levels.

This is being tested through projects within the region such as, but not limited to:

Medan City water problem UNESCO project funded by Indonesia Funds in Trust

Citarum river basin UNESCO project funded by Indonesia Funds in Trust

Davao City IWRM implementation UNESCO project

Langat river basin urban water restoration UNESCO project funded by Japanese funds in

Trust

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap city urban water management UNESCO project funded by Funds in

Trust.

18

3.1.6.2 Key stakeholders and how to involve them in implementation of solutions drawn from your session

Urban water management problems need social inclusiveness to be solved sustainably. Therefore,

the regional focus group for urban water management is constituted with different type of

institutions including:

International organisations

Regional organisations

Local government

Governmental institutions

Academia

Private sector They will be engaged through the regional focus group. Also, the regional focus group will also

diffuse findings and encourage discussion and exchanges through regional renowned international

conferences like but not limited to Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS), International

Congress on Modelling and Simulation (MODSIM), Asia-Pacific Water Summit, Singapore

International Water Week.

3.1.7 Inputs to the Implementation Road map

The leader of the thematic session attended the conclusion session of the inter-regional day on

water and cities and could witness the conclusions from each sub-session including the Asia-Pacific

sub-session. This was reported at the concluding session at which again the goal to achieve water

secure cities and the five focus areas identified as enablers to this agenda as below:

THE GOAL IS “WATER SECURE CITIES”

- By bringing together water professionals, urban planners and social sciences.

- To develop cities in an integrated way, and embrace water as a key contributor to Healthy,

Livable, Risk-resilient, Regenerative Cities.

- It is about embracing the 5Rs principles for long term Water Secure Cities:

Reduce the amount of water being used

Reuse the water with different qualities for different usages

Recover the energy imbedded in water

Re-cycle the nutrients in the wastewater and

Replenish the surrounding environment so that the resources used are regenerated.

THE THEORY OF CHANGE

5 focus areas are identifies as enablers to this agenda:

• Focus Area 1: Vision and leadership

Top-down (political) and bottom-up (citizens)

19

Surviving political cycles

Inspired by existing case studies

• Focus Area 2: Governance and Integrated services

Good governance is key, including equity, transparency accountability, sound

financing, citizens engagement

Regulations and institutions that enable the synergies within sectors to fully

implement the 5R principles

City planning teams integrating the disciplines and the 4scales

• Focus Area 3: Capacity Building

Technical , organizational and institutional capacity building on the benefits and

enablers of the 5Rs and of synergies between sectors

• Focus Area 4: Tools for planning, decision making

Data collection, management and analysis tools, including an urban metabolism

approach

Citizens participatory process tools

Assessment tools of financial and non-market values

• Focus Area 5: Adapted implementation tools

An Urban Water Framework tool to assess, monitor and improve the performance

of Cities in implementing the 5R principles for a healthy, liveable and risk-resilient

city

Financing mechanisms, including new green business models

The 5R s are all included in implementing ecotechnologies to transfer conventional system cities to

ecotechnologies based cities of the future and the “theory of change” developed by the thematic

session is applicable to the Asia-Pacific region.

3.1.8 Conclusion The four actions were performed as follows:


Three regional experts meetings took place with their detailed report in the following progress

section. The meetings were occasions to discuss the water security and water related challenges in

urbanized settlements and the corresponding water footprint in the water catchment. Besides

analyzing the water related challenges of cities, the meetings also discussed the possible

mitigation and adaptation measures centred on ecotechnologies.

20


22 institutions were approached to form the regional focus group for Asia-Pacific water and cities.

The group includes international organisations, regional organisations, local government,

governmental institutions, academia and private sector.

Action 3: Develop a white paper and vision on UWM

The final version of the white paper “Water and Cities: Implementing Ecotechnologies for Urban

Water Security in Asia-Pacific Region” was validated by the partners for distribution.

The final section of the white paper reports on “How to move from technologies to water

security of cities of the future” as follows: “This white paper sought to assess how ecotechnology,

ecohydrology based systems, could respond adequately to changing and growing urban water

services demand and challenges in Asia and the Pacific and how to implement proven solutions

from case studies in the region in order to reach urban water security.

Moving forward with the SDGs:

The transition is possible and needs the following necessary enabling conditions:

Develop a base of use of ecobiotechnologies in the management of urban water systems

(Technical, economic, financial, social)

A socially inclusive system led by strong political support and stakeholder empowerment

A fully enforced legal system defining clearly responsibilities between stakeholders and

regulators

A clear and secured financial commitment for water security and sanitation across the

region supported at all levels.”

Action 4: Develop a regional Flagship Programme as a follow up to the 7th World Water Forum

This action foresees in the development, and start of implementation of a regional flagship

programme on Urban Water Management through projects implemented at UNESCO Office

Jakarta. The programme will be based on demonstration projects, which will showcase innovation

in urban water management. Each demonstration will be developed and implemented via a

consortium of partners, including (local) government, NGOs, community representatives,

universities, urban planners and water experts. These partners will form a demo-learning alliance.

Between the different demonstration projects a regional learning alliance will be developed to

ensure cooperation, exchange of information, expertise and sharing of best practice. This will be

accompanied by a regional capacity building programme.

Session 2: Water and Energy Efficiency for Green Growth 3.2


21

Discussions over the need to link economic growth and environmental protection have long

existed. The discourses too often have been around promoting a balance between the two.

However, this “balance” has had a weak appeal especially for developing countries as

environmental protection is assume to means some required compromise of what can be

achieved economically. However, green growth discussed at this session is different. It nurtures

green industries and jobs that will serve as an engine for growth.

The term green growth is of particular resonance for the AP region. The AP region consists of

many emerging economies that are being rapidly industrialized and urbanized at the cost of the

environment. In Asia-Pacific, urbanization with rapid population growth and climate change are

some of the major pressures on water resources. These pressures exacerbate negative impacts of

water-related challenges such as lack of water and food security and water-related disasters that

are occurring alarmingly at a higher frequency and severity. These water-related challenges

continue to pose serious threats to human lives and economies of the AP region.

This was an opportunity for the AP region, to evaluate our old ways and to reshape the strategies

and measures to restore and protect our environment while continuing to sustain and raise the

living standards of our people. One of the biggest obstacles is that until now, we do not have many

examples of successful green growth strategies to follow, especially around water resources

management. The session was an opportunity to explore and collect such evidence, as evidence is

a good initiator for a change.

Initial Goals of the Session

To highlight the concept of Water and Green Growth, in addressing water-related challenges

and development objectives of the AP region

To highlight the concept of Water and Energy Efficiency and how addressing these links are

important for addressing water-related challenges and development objectives and secure

sustainable growth within environmental boundaries.

To refine and tailor Water and Green Growth as a development strategy to suit the specific

needs and interests of the AP region

To assess current development approaches undertaken in the regions and to identify their

limitations

To share best practices and lessons learned in resource efficiency and green growth

policymaking and implementation in national and regional contexts

To disseminate regional and national knowledge on successful Water Efficiency and Water

and Green Growth policies and projects and to share and complement them through this joint

session between Europe and the AP region

To provide recommendations to improve SDGs based on experiences of Water Efficiency and

Green Growth practices

22

3.2.2 Progress

Final report, Water and Green Growth (volume 1 & volume 2–case studies) published in

the 7th World Water Forum (K-water & WWC)

Completed global in-depth case studies on Water and Green Growth (WGG)

Lessons learned drawn from the case studies to formulate policy guideline and

implementation roadmap

Regional process AP session hosted to share and discuss regional case studies

Results presented at the session

Invited experts from the AP region to share more regional case studies and to broaden

scope of knowledge

Published AP case studies, Water and Green Growth: Case Studies from Asia and the Pacific

and distributed at the 7th World Water Forum (ESCAP & K-water)

Opportunity to identify experts and country representatives (focal points) for future

cooperation and expanding database of success cases for future research

Figure 1. Main preparatory events up to the 7th World Water Forum



Country Role Note


K-water Taesun Shin [email protected]

ROK


UNESCAP Salmah Zakaria [email protected]

Malaysia

1st Expert Group Meeting

Stockholm

3rd Sep, 2014

K-water

2nd Expert Group Meeting

Seoul

20th Nov, 2014

K-water

Co-convenor for “Special Regional Session: Achieving water security for Asia and the Pacific through sustainable water management”

Zaragoza

15-17 January 2015

UNESCAP

3rd Expert Group Meeting

Bangkok

23-25 Feb 2015

UNESCAP & K-water

RP AP 3.2 Session

Water and Energy Efficiency for

Green Growth

K-water & UNESCAP

23

Session Group

Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF)

Ravi Narayanan [email protected]

India Moderator

Sri Lanka Water Partnership Kusum Athukorala [email protected]

Sri Lanka Speaker

National Committee on Water Resources, Myanmar

Khin-Ni-Ni Thein [email protected]

Myanmar Speaker

Asia-Pacific Center for Water Security (APWCS)

Fu Sun [email protected]

China Speaker

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)

Anshuman [email protected]

India Speaker

Chungang University Jeongin Kim [email protected]

ROK Speaker

Korea University Seunho Lee [email protected]

ROK Panelist

Silla University [email protected] ROK Panelist

Danish Water Forum Miriam Feilberg [email protected]

Denmark Co-coordinator (inter-regional session)

3.2.4 Linkages to other processes (Political, Thematic and Science & Technology

Processes)

Participation of and discussion by session speakers in Thematic Process 3.1.1. on Water,

the Impetus for Green Growth to reflect their insights and region-specific/developing

country-specific solutions

Indirect and direct inputs into Thematic Process 3.1 Implementation Roadmap


This was an inter-regional joint session between the Asia-Pacific and Europe, on Water and Energy

Efficiency for Green Growth. Two regional sessions had been brought together: Water Efficiency in

Europe and Sustainable Water Resources Management for Green Growth in the AP Region. The

objective of this cooperation was to explore and share expertise and knowledge on two different

aspects, water efficiency and sustainable water resources management, which are inseparable in

addressing water-related challenges and in realizing green growth. The key focus is on “green

growth” and how it can be achieved through appropriate water-related policies and practices at

project, regional, and national levels.


Key Messages:

WGG - a crucial paradigm and development strategy

The region most vulnerable to water-related crises, has an opportunity to not only

address water-related challenges but also to simultaneously use water as means

for achieving dual goals of economic development and environmental

sustainability

24

Need to build climate resilient and adaptive water-related infrastructure

Cross-cutting impacts on economies and societies: tackle one, tackle all

A holistic approach serving as an impetus to better policies in other sectors

To replace the vicious cycle of resource-intensive and quantitative growth to a virtuous

cycle of economic development that is resource-efficient and qualitative

Strategies must be context specific considering political and socio-economic particularities

and needs


Developing and implementing WGG policies based on the WGG policy guideline

Sharing and disseminating best practices and cases

Long-term investment in natural resources (e.g. water) and the need to reform fiscal

policies to reflect costs of externalities on current market prices to realize green growth

Requires a strong leadership and political commitment to lead indicative and integrated

planning for developing countries

Institutionalize participation of community and the public in decision-making; their

commitment and participation, keys to successful WGG policies

Implement and finance pro-poor policies such as climate resilient agricultural programs to

support their livelihood and realize green growth at community and regional levels

Promote water efficiency and water reuse especially in industries for informed decisions by

systematizing water balance information (e.g. conduct water audit)

Next Steps:

Linking the green paradigm with sustainable development goals (SDGs)

Conducting more case studies to generalize the policy roadmap

Developing indicators to assess the effectiveness of WGG policies

Establishing and expanding partnerships and network

Sharing experiences and knowledge on a regular basis until the 8th World Water Forum

3.2.6.2 Key stakeholders and how to involve them in implementation of solutions drawn from

your session

Key stakeholders: K-water, UNESCAP, World Water Council, National Committee for the 7th World

Water Forum, APWF, GGGI, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT-ROK), UNESCO,

FAO, ICHARM, NARBO, ADB, GWP CACENA, Korea Water Forum, Korea Institute of Civil

25

Engineering and Building Technology, research universities, national and regional level water-

related committees and organisations in Asia and the Pacific

Host regular bi-annual Expert Group Meetings to continue and monitor commitment of

key stakeholders

EGM to develop indicators for measuring WGG performance and for monitoring

Establish a joint project team to expand database on WGG case studies and use them to

devise indicators

Actively use water and environment-related international conferences and platforms for

networking among stakeholders and to disseminate the concept of WGG along with its

success stories

Input collected outputs of the session to meetings and documents for the region-specific

meetings such as the 3rd Asia Pacific Summit, the Asia Development Water Outlook (ADB),

the Asian Water Information System and the Eye on Asia (Stockholm International Water

Week), etc.

3.2.7 Inputs to the Implementation Roadmap

Results and outputs of the session presented at the T3.1 Concluding Session, have been

reflected into below implementation roadmap

Participation of and discussion by session speakers in T.3.1.1. on Water, the Impetus for

Green Growth to reflect their insights and region-specific/developing country-specific

solutions

T

h

e

m

e

Key Focus Area Objective Inputs

3.1

Policy Coherence

[3.1.a] By 2018, elaborate policy guideline which has been published at the 7th

World Water Forum and provide policy guideline and roadmap enabling green

growth with time frame.

√

[3.1.b] By 2018, encourage at all levels of government to make policy changes for

restoring ecosystem services and circular economy. √

[3.1.c] By 2018, encourage industry sector to incentivize investments for green

paradigm to overcome the silos of water, energy and resource management and

implement best practices more widely

√

Involvement of

Stakeholders

[3.1.d] By 2018, identify role of water stewardship to promote sustainable

consumption and production patterns and resource efficient and cleaner

production.

[3.1.e] By 2018, design and implement sound water governance models to

increase collaborative between all different levels. √

[3.1.f] By 2018, institute appropriate legal and institutional framework for

the participation of private sector in water management √

Sustainable Business

Models

[3.1.g] By 2018, increase awareness of water as an economic value to avoid

business risk. √

26

[3.1.h] By 2018, find sustainable business cases and best practices for

circular economy to overcome a silo approach of water management √

[3.1.i] By 2018, identify and remove barriers in implementing economic

instruments (e.g. PES) to value ecosystem services.

Theme Objective Action Inputs

3.1

3.1.a

Conduct more case studies considering regional and socio-economic context so that

policy roadmap considering time frame can be developed √

Establish High Level Review Panel or Water and Green Growth Working Group to

share perspectives and discuss regularly on the issues √

Develop indicator to assess the impacts of policy guideline which has been

published at the 7th

World Water Forum to achieve green growth

3.1.b

Improve awareness of scalable solutions to implement systematic approaches with

a positive effect on social and environmental issues √

Identify next steps to be taken to nurture the change towards circular economy,

overcome the silos of water, energy and resource management √

Technical reports for policy makers and e-learning for industries with case studies

3.1.c

Encouraging decision makers or stakeholders to facilitate financial market reform

such as providing tax exemption for long-term investments and penalizing taxes for

short-term investments

√

Establish innovative mechanisms to incentivize companies who make investments

for water management

Make use of monitoring or audit system to enhance transparency of investment

and informed decisions for industry sector. √

3.1.d

Develop education program to empower vulnerable communities in decision

making process

Increase recognition of the importance of socially equitable water use in green

growth √

Assess commitment of stakeholders using the Alliance for Water Stewardship

standard

3.1.e

Link with the OECD Water Governance Principles

Find best practices of good water governance which all levels of stakeholders are

included in decision-making process √

Establish institutional framework which is favorable of decentralization for

effective water governance systems

3.1.f

Share the best practices of public-private partnership in water management √

Raise awareness of private sector on the business risks and opportunities related to

circular approaches

Establish legal and policy framework to encourage the participation of private

sector in water sector

3.1.g

Carry out public campaign to raise awareness on the role water as an economic

good

Have a regular meeting to raise awareness on the importance of water as economic

value √

Provide information about payments for ecosystem services, to the prospective

PES buyers

3.1.h

Share good examples for circular economy in business sector √

Transfer innovative technology to developing countries (developed countries take

the lead)

Develop innovative tools to stimulate and discuss sustainable business models

27

3.1.i

Find appropriate pricing mechanisms for restoring ecosystem services

Conduct case studies to quantify effectiveness of economic instruments

Encourage government action to incentivize investments in ecosystem protection √

3.2.8 Conclusion

WGG a crucial paradigm and development strategies for Asia and the Pacific that is mostly

developing countries and with high water-related risks

Water central means to address not only water-related challenges but to foster economic

development through job creation and regional growth

Environmental sustainability and economic development can be achieved simultaneously

Strong need to develop WGG performance indicators for guidance and monitoring

purposes

Establish systematic database to collect and disseminate success stories of WGG projects

in the AP region

Host regular bi-annual meeting to monitor and evaluate progress and to manage database

on BMPs

Session 3: Successfully managing Asia’s transitions to achieve food and 3.3nutrition security for all and build vibrant rural communities in a water secure and prosperous Asia Pacific region


While the Asia Pacific aims at achieving water and food security, it faces two momentous

transitions: a structural transformation of agriculture linked to economic growth; and a transition

to sustainable agriculture to reverse the unsustainable use and degradation of limited water and

other natural resources threatened by climate change, within a broader green development

agenda.

The region will not succeed if it continues to leave farmers and rural communities behind. The

challenge for decision-makers is to support and orient these transitions in a sustainable and

equitable manner. This has profound implications for agricultural and rural water management,

that need to support vibrant rural economies and productive ecosystems, and for the region’s

food security strategies.

28

Only the simultaneous consideration of several SDG goals and targets linked to poverty and

hunger eradication, environmental sustainability, equitable growth and economic development

and understanding, anticipating and managing these multiple transitions will lead to effective,

feasible and dynamic policies, strategies and investment.

The Asia Pacific Regional Slot of the Inter-Regional Day on Water and Food would propose an

ambitious and dynamic agenda for water and food security founded on this renewed perspective,

inspired by successful experiences.

The goal is to contribute to re-shaping the perspectives and strategies for water and food security

in the Asia Pacific by successfully managing agricultural, economic, social and environmental

transitions with prosperous rural communities as a core objective. The Regional Slot would

propose and illustrate, by forward-looking case studies from the region, a new vision for economic,

food and water security in the Asia Pacific and develop key messages for action.

3.3.2 Progress

Roadmap to the session

6th World Water Forum (Marseilles, 2012): FAO-ESCAP Asia-Pacific Regional Session on

Water, Economic and Food Security and Green Growth

2nd Asia-Pacific Water Summit (Chiang Mai, 2013): Focus Area Session on Water, Economic

and Food Security

FAO 32nd Asia-Pacific Regional Conference (Ulan Baatar, March 2014): Meeting farmers’

aspirations in the context of green development

August 2014: Session Position Paper

September 2014: Session submission based on agreement with session partners

FAO Regional eConference on water and food security (http://asia-water.org) (Dec.2014-

Feb.2015)

Preparation of a White Paper on water and food security in Asia and the Pacific, March-

April 2015


Organization Focal Point Country Role Note

Session Coordinator

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Thierry Facon Lead Coordinator, speaker

http://asia-water.org/

http://asia-water.org/

29

Session Group

ICID

Gao Zhanyi

Contributed to Session design and messages, presenting a solution, final words

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

Aditi Mukherji N/A

Contributed to session design and messages

ICIMOD will be represented by David Molden, DG, ICIMOD, at the Session, where he will panel moderate a panel and, present a solution

MANCID

Mohd Adnan Malaysia

Contributed to session design and messages, presenting a solution, debate moderator

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Yasmin Siddiqi N/A

Contributed to session design and messages, panel moderator, presenting a solution

Global Water Partnership (GWP) Headquarters

François Brikké N/A

participate in the Session design, coordinate GWP sub-regional case studies,

Global Water Partnership (GWP) CACENA

Viktor Dukhovny

Coordinate and present a sub-regional case study

Central Asian case study and represent at the panel will be by Prof.. Victor Dukhovny, SIC ICWC, Uzbekistan

30

Global Water Partnership(GWP) China Gao Zhanyi China


Global Water Partnership (GWP) South Asia Lam Dorji Bhutan


Global Water Partnership (GWP) Southeast Asia Djoko Sasongko Indonesia



Processes)

The Session was linked to Water and Food Thematic Process 2.1. The Session Coordinator was a

member of the 2.1. Design Theme.


The session was part of the Inter-Regional Day on Water and Food: Water and Food security in a

Changing Word: Regional Perspectives. The Session coordinator was also the coordinator for the

whole inter-regional day. 5 regions had a session in the inter-regional day on water and food

security: Eastern Africa GWP-EAF, Americas (DIWF) , EWI (ADB), the Arab Region (AWC) and the

Asia Pacific (FAO). The inter-regional day concluded in a regional plenary.



The Session has adopted the key messages, vision and key areas for action proposed in the White

Paper presented at the session:

The region is facing two transitions: a structural transformation of agriculture and a transition to

sustainable agriculture. The challenge for decision-makers and stakeholders is managing both

transitions at the same time sustainably and equitably. However, the overall effect of the

transitions on farmers’ incomes is uncertain.

Decisions on key policy options and critical details will require clarity on major socio-economic

orientations and societal preferences, related to the structural transformation of the agricultural

31

sector within the overall transformation of the national economies and the transition to green

development patterns. In order to achieve a coherent, effective and feasible set of policies,

strategies and interventions explicitly addressing the following policy dilemmas, through trade-offs

and their inherent difficulties, will be critical:

Managing transitions: supporting resilience or a combination of improvements and exit

strategies;

Managing the informality of the water economies;

Economic water productivity vs. equity and other strategic goals;

Resource use efficiency vs. resilience and redundancy;

Possibly diverging national, river basin and local objectives;

Political feasibility: “ideal” vs. second-best options ; and

Realistic financial arrangements and economic prospects for water operators and farmers

vs. incentives for performance.

To tackle these transitions and ensure rural prosperity, the following vision for water and food

security in Asia and the Pacific has evolved and is proposed, in conjunction with the Sustainable

Development Goals to 2030:

“Food and nutrition security for all and vibrant rural communities in a water-secure Asia-Pacific,

through managing the region's multiple social and economic transitions equitably and sustainably”.

In practice, the proposed agenda and expected components of action plans and solutions

proposed for Water and Food Security in the Asia-Pacific is articulated along the following axes of

Key Action Areas, seen as levers to accelerate reaching the vision:

1. Implementing sound and innovative water accounting and auditing to support decision-

making and management

2. Evolving risk management strategies for national food security policies under water

constraints and economic transitions

3. Adapting agricultural and rural water management to promote a renewed focus on

ensuring farmer and rural prosperity for managing socio-economic transitions

sustainably: plotting new futures for irrigation and drainage under long-term vision

4. Supporting investments boosting ecosystem and water productivity, maintaining water

quality across agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, irrigation and drainage-recognizing its

multiple services- and their supply chains and supporting rural transformations

5. Managing the changing dynamics of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

6. Capacity development

32


your session

Countries are called to invest and provide an enabling environment for farmers, civil society and

the private sector investment in the Key Action Areas, seen as levers to accelerate reaching the

vision.

Countries in the region need to develop comprehensive risk management strategies for national

food security under water constraints that address/combine risks and options related to:

production variability

improvements in productivity

procurement and price fluctuations from the international markets,

storage of grain/other food items, water, fiscal/ financial assets,

social risks (social safety nets for vulnerable populations).

On the whole, strategies for equitable and sustainable transitions are complex: they need to

address short-term equity and other concerns in view of a desired end-game. Another key

element of a forward-looking policy package is to address and support conservation-oriented

farming practices. However, as discussed earlier, while the adoption of SPI is necessary, in the long

term, SPI recommendations do not necessarily result in agricultural and rural livelihoods that

provide incomes similar to those in other sectors in the short term. Incentives, such as payments

for environmental services or carbon sequestration, though important, may not provide the

sufficient financial rewards required to create sustainable incomes.

These questions should be debated in the policy arena among stakeholders at the national level

and, as relevant, at local levels of economic decision-making and natural resources management.

Public policy dialogues must address whether rural populations agree with conservation-based

policies that may restrict their future prosperity prospects. Hence, the public conversation ought

to address these strategic questions:

What are the prospects for rural development outside of agriculture?

If agriculture is expected to remain the key contributor of rural incomes, what type of

environmentally sustainable farming system can procure significantly higher incomes?

Who will pay for ecosystem services and how? Farmers, customers and/or the public?

Reshaping social structures in Asia-Pacific will also involve devising gender-sensitive social

protections and policies, particularly in rural populations, such as: peeling back the limits girls and

women face with regards to their access to education and employment opportunities; and,

supporting their vital roles in food production, preparation, processing, distribution, and

marketing activities, through for instance easing their access to land and credit.

33

The changing nature of farming and rural livelihoods suggests that water governance

arrangements and institutional models for irrigation management need revisiting and that

innovation in this area is likely to be needed to support irrigation transitions.

As a key feature of the governance architecture for future water management sustainability,

governments are strongly urged to establish and nurture public participation platforms based on

WUAs and including other relevant stakeholders, acknowledging the importance of and need to

manage the multiple uses and services (MUS) that they provide, and promote a shift to MUS rural

water management. Practitioners in the region consider the formation of public participation

platforms as an essential component of the way forward.


As requested by the Regional Process Commission, the session contributed, together with other

regional sessions of the inter-regional day on water and food, 3 key messages and

challenges/issues for future implementation, which were agreed upon by all participants in the

concluding session of the inter-regional da and presented at the Concluding session of the 2.1

Thematic Process. A number of the key messages and issues for future implementation adopted

originated from the Asia Pacific Session.

Common issues/mentions shared by at least 3 regions were:

1. water productivity

2. regional cooperation

3. the Nexus

4. capacity building

5. financing gap

6. investment

7. agriculture transformation

But this did not mean that we should find common generic responses or seek consensus on what

these responses should be, or lowest common denominators. All regions have highlighted

diversity.

Key message 1:

Our premise: diversity among and within our regions and sub-regions (and even within countries).

So we must be weary of generic statements and recommendations and blueprint standard

prescriptions.

Issue/challenge for future implementation 1: research work/solutions/recommendations should

be contextualized.

34

Issue/challenge for future implementation 2: local responses should be evolved locally thorough

local platforms for dialogue on goals and policies and action.

Key message 2:

We need to understand and manage rural dynamics and agriculture transformations, i.e. manage

transitions. Managing has 2 meanings: managing as coping as these dynamics are often deep

trends, and managing as pro-active. But we can understand, anticipate, inflect/redirect, manage

risks or potential impacts, or take a pro-active approach through change.

Issue/challenge for future implementation 3: this requires effective integration but this is still an

arduous task. Integration includes the Nexus. A Nexus approach is often useful and in fact

necessary. 2 regional sessions focused on the Nexus and all addressed it. But moving forward a

Nexus approach proves difficult. Who leads and orchestrates. It also has risks: capacity of the food

sector within water is often weak within the water sectors and compared with the water sector,

the energy sector is often powerful, better connected, has more firepower. How to ensure that

food<water has a capacity to propose synergies and that trade-offs are not against agriculture?

Issue/challenge for future implementation 4: farmers’ capacities increased to be represented in

local processes

Issue/challenge for future implementation 5: IWRM has not been so smart if we still have these

problems.

Key message 3:

We need to balance blue water and green water. A number of countries will require productivity

improvements in both. This is not just about water interventions. Agronomic practices, sees, etc.

are key.

Issue/challenge for future implementation 5: we must consider incentives for farmers to improve

productivity and adopt more sustainable or smart-this and smart-that practices: effects on income,

labour productivity, and competition for labour.

Issue/challenge for future implementation 6: understand the trade-offs, e.g. water productivity

and energy, and between blue and green water, between user, ecosystems

Issue/challenge for future implementation 7: solid water accounting frameworks are needed.

Issue/challenge for implementation 8: The international community to assist developing

countries in raising poor smallholders' incomes.

Issue/challenge for implementation 9: Trade issues are important for water and food security and

should be addressed. The international community should take action to protect poor import-

dependent countries against risks-shocks related to food prices. More generally, whether

35

countries can be confident or not in trade options affects capping or fencing of water allocation to

agriculture for production of strategic crops and the measure of efforts/investment in improving

productivity and irrigation, and the trade-offs between economic water productivity and other

strategic goals: food security, equity, and with the environment. In practice, countries have to

consider risk management strategies for food security under water constraints, with risks/options

related to productions, storage of food, water and money, trade (availability and prices), social

protection/safety nets.

3.3.8 Conclusion

Since the 6th World Water Forum, regional dialogue including through the preparation of this

session has allowed the region to make progress in identifying key issues and challenges related to

water and food security, developing a new vision founded on the importance of managing the

multiple transitions the region is facing, and mapping out an agenda for key actions to accelerate

this vision. Through the consultative process adopted for the road map to this session, a number

of forward-looking exemplary actions and existing initiatives have also been identified. The

consensus achieved at the session in WWF7 is a milestone for future regional cooperation and

dialogue.

Session 4: Climate Change adaptation and mitigation in Africa, Americas, 3.4Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Mediterranean region/ Building resilience to water-related disasters in the Asia-Pacific region


The Asia-Pacific region faces more disasters than any other region in the world. Disaster risks will

increase in many countries of the region as vulnerable people and assets are increasingly exposed

to extreme weather events. Climate change and variability are expected to create more hotspots

of water-related disasters in the region. People in the mountains and downstream areas are highly

vulnerable to an increasing number of hazards, such as landslides and flash floods. To reduce the

risk from hazards facing Asia-Pacific countries, we need to design policies and promote practices

aimed at building resilience to water-related disasters.

The objective of the session on ‘Climate Change/Water Related Disasters/Resilience/Mountain

Water Security’ titled ‘Building resilience to water-related disasters in the Asia-Pacific region’ is to

share evidence-based case analyses and their policy implications with the scientific community

and state-level decision-makers in the region. Five case studies from the region were presented

during the session. These studies shed light on the adaptation measures of building resilience to

floods (e.g. evidence-based risk assessment and end-to-end information systems to convey early

36

warning messages to the last mile), and to droughts (e.g., risk-pooling through innovative weather

insurance products and diffusing scientific knowledge to help design better adaptive responses).

ICIMOD Director General Dr. David Molden chaired and delivered the keynote address at the

session on ‘Building Resilience to Water Related Disasters’. The central message of Dr. Molden’s

keynote was that in order to build resilience, it is essential to ensure effective risk governance by

building a supportive interface between government policies and programmes and the climate

adaptation initiatives adopted by communities at the local level. Creating such a supportive and

effective interface would require the development of a mechanism for direct communication

between government decision makers and local communities.

APWF Governing Council Chair Mr. Ravi Narayanan delivered a special address on the last mile

challenges to resilience building. He highlighted the need to build inclusive institutions that adopt

participatory processes built on transparency and trust and the need to transfer, diffuse, and

spread out knowledge and information conducive to adaptation and resilience building at the local

level.

Mr. Narayanan’s special address was followed by a presentation on evidence-based risk

assessment by Mr. Hisaya Sawano of ICHARM and on flood water harvesting by Ms. Priyanka

Dissanayake of GWP.

While delivering his closing remarks, Professor Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, Advisor and former Director,

ICHARM, noted that risk governance is one of the four priorities of action in the Sendai Declaration

of the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, which was adopted in March 2015.

At the same session, ICIMOD Senior Advisor and session coordinator Dr. Ramesh Vaidya

moderated discussion of four case studies on flash floods, mountain springs, agricultural insurance,

and water governance, prepared for the session and accessible on the ICIMOD website:

(http://lib.icimod.org/record/30326; http://lib.icimod.org/record/30289;

http://lib.icimod.org/record/30290; http://lib.icimod.org/record/30291). Dr. Arun Bhakta Shrestha

of ICIMOD presented the case study on building resilience to flash floods in the mountains; Mr.

Harshvardhan Dhawan of Arghyam presented the case study on building resilience to drying

springs in the mountains; Ms. Su Yufang of CMES China presented the case study on good water

governance; and Dr. Sanjay Srivastava of UN-ESCAP presented the case study on index-based

weather insurance.

3.4.2 Progress

- June 2015: Preparatory meeting organized by Asia-Pacific Water Forum in Singapore

- July - August 2015: Preparation of the position paper for the session

- September 2015 – February 2015: Preparation of the case studies identified in the position

paper and uploaded in the ICIMOD website:

http://lib.icimod.org/record/30326


37




- April 2015: Meeting of the case study writers in Gyeongju to prepare for presentation at the

session

- April 2015: Organization of the session in Gyeongju



Country

Role Note


International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

Dr. Ramesh Vaidya <[email protected]

Nepal

Coordinated the session development process


Session Group

International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM)

Dr. Masahiko Murase < [email protected]>

Japan

Contributed to the session development process

United Nations ESCAP Dr. Sanjay Kumar Srivastava <[email protected]>

Thailand


Global Water partnership

Mr. François Brikké <[email protected]>

Sweden


Water Youth Network Mr. Ponce Samaniego <[email protected]>

Provided inputs for session development


Three adaptation measures discussed at the session were presented at the closing of the Inter-

Regional Day organized by the International Office for Water: end-to-end information systems to

build resilience to floods; index-based weather insurance products to build resilience to droughts;

and bio-physical and institutional arrangements to revive drying springs for water security in the

mountains.




38



The key messages of the session and necessary actions are as follows:

Message 1: Emerging technologies and strengthened ‘end-to-end’ information systems can

build flood resilience.

Actions on five major fronts for end-to-end information systems:

1. Invest in modern hydro-met stations to collect and store data.

2. Invest in information and communication technologies, both terrestrial and satellite-based,

to transmit data in real time.

3. Develop appropriate policies and mechanisms for supportive interface between

institutions at national and community levels.

4. Develop institutional arrangements from end to end for sending flood alerts to the last

mile.

5. Invest in capacity building through training programmes for government and community

organizations.

Message 2: Index-based weather insurance can support improved drought resilience.

Actions on five major fronts for index-based weather insurance:

1. Invest in hydro-met networks for accurate and timely weather data.

2. Engage non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as social mobilizers to raise awareness of

the benefits of insurance products.

3. Invest in scientific research to understand better the correlation of the index with actual

crop yields.

4. Invest in evidence-based risk assessment to serve as an input into developing better

insurance products.

5. Develop reinsurance markets for international risk pooling.

Message 3: Evidence-based risk assessment is essential in promoting water-related disaster

risk management.

Actions on four fronts for evidence-based risk assessment

39

1. Conduct risk assessment to identify the nature and magnitude of risk for the formulation of

disaster risk reduction strategies.

2. Collect and archive hazard and damage data to develop risk indicators that make risk

assessment evidence-based.

3. Apply the latest advances in science and technology to promote practical risk assessment.

4. Assess the effectiveness of preventive investment, land use planning, and emergency

actions to develop an optimal combination of strategies.

Message 4: Better understanding of spring hydrogeology and improving local water

governance can help revive drying springs and build resilience to seasonal water shortages.

Action on five major fronts for reviving drying springs:

1. Identify recharge areas accurately.

2. Prepare hydro-geological layout maps of the spring aquifers and recharge areas.

3. Build simple artificial recharge structures, e.g., trenches.

4. Incentivize rainwater harvesting in farmers’ fields.

5. Build local institutional arrangements to regulate demand for water.

Message 5: Linking government water policies with local adaptation strategies can build

resilience to water stress.

Action for linking policies with local strategies:

Build a mechanism for face-to-face communication between policymakers/decision-makers

and local communities aimed at creating a supportive interface between government policies

and programmes and the climate adaptation initiatives adopted by communities at the local

level.


your session

These five key messages have three major implications on the role of the key stakeholders in

building resilience to water-related disasters:

1. There is a need to enhance the role of national governments in developing appropriate

policies, legislation, and regulations conducive to building resilience, and in building

mechanisms for a supportive interface between national government initiatives and local

level initiatives.

40

2. There is a need to promote the role of the private sector in diffusing innovative insurance

products for better risk management in the future.

3. There is a need to enhance the role of knowledge institutions in generating scientific

knowledge and information and of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in

disseminating them at the community levels.

The future activities of ICIMOD and its partners at the session — Arghyam, CAS, GWP, ESCAP,

ICHARM, and the Water Youth Network supported by ADB -- will be vital in promoting necessary

actions for the key messages to be effective as well as in enhancing appropriate roles of the key

stakeholders.


ICIMOD and its partners at the session could support Asia-Pacific Water Forum for providing

region-specific inputs for the execution of the Thematic Implementation Roadmap of the 7th World

Water Forum

3.4.7 Conclusion

There are two ways ICIMOD and its session partners could support Asia-Pacific Water Forum to

participate in the future process:

1. ICIMOD and its partners could support Asia-Pacific Water Forum for providing region-

specific inputs for the execution of the Thematic Implementation Roadmap of the 7th

World Water Forum.

2. ICIMOD and its partners could support Asia-Pacific Water Forum for providing inputs to

UN-ISDR on effective risk governance, which is one of the four priorities of action of the

Sendai Declaration of the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.

Session 5: SMART Implementation of IWRM / Future IWRM in Asia-3.5Pacific -What we have achieved and outlook by focusing on river basin level & Over the framework of knowledge-


Seeing Asia-Pacific region, there are issues of ‘Too much water’ and ‘Too little water’ due to the

geographical situation. The economic growth in the region has resulted in issues of ‘Too dirty

water’ emerging in these decades. Also, there are issues of transboundary rivers and aquifers and

genders in the region. To mitigate and solve these complex situations, IWRM approach is well

recognized as a useful tool also in Asia-Pacific region, and many players on IWRM are working very

well.

41

However, there are still gaps between international discussion and practitioners work. By bridging

the gaps by enhancing implementation of IWRM is requested.

2015 is the turning year of the world development, and new world wide target such as Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs) is now discussed under the initiative of the United Nations. The Open

Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals proposed 17 Specific goals with 169 targets. As

target 6.5, ‘by 2030 implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including

through transboundary cooperation as appropriate’ was proposed. We’re also requested to meet

this target in a smart way.

Having these in mind, the session on IWRM in Asia-Pacific region which title was ‘Over the

framework of Knowledge’ was convened by NARBO with the Economic and Social Commission for

Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Global Water Partnership (GWP) and United Nations Educational,

Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and shared regional knowledge and experience on

IWRM and discussed future in the region in Gyeongju on 13 April, 2015.

As an innovative tool of IWRM, ‘IWRM Indicator’ to assess the progress of IWRM with simple word

was introduced from NARBO at the session. The session agreed to endeavor to make more

opportunities of sharing experience and knowledge and enhance networking in the region to

bridge the gaps in a smart way and contribute to achieve international goals and target such as

SDGs on water and IWRM and resolve to take actions to follow-up it by recognizing that the region

has ample and valuable experience and knowledge on IWRM.

Figure 1 ; NARBO’s IWRM Indicator introduced at the 7th World Water Forum

3.5.2 Progress

42

NARBO was appointed as a coordinator of the Session Group on IWRM (Group 5) in the Asia-

Pacific region on the process of the 7WWF by the regional coordinators consisting of the APWF

and Korea Water Forum (KWF) on June, 2014. Since then, NARBO discussed and coordinated what

Asia-Pacific region should improve IWRM through many opportunities and developed the draft

session proposal as a part of the Inter-Regional Session on IWRM in Asia Pacific region with Arab

and Mediterranean region (INR.3.4.AP). To grasp more detailed information in the region, NARBO

hold a workshop on IWRM in the Asia-Pacific region (regional workshop) as part of its preparations

for the 7WWF and make a questionnaire to the organizations concerned in the region in February,

2015. Through the workshop and questionnaire, rationality and applicability of proposed ‘IWRM

Indicator’ has been confirmed by getting actual data and case studies.

NARBO is one of the design group members of the Thematic Process 3.4 Smart Implementation of

IWRM (T3.4) and session convener of the ‘Thematic Session 3.4.4 Knowledgebase for IWRM’

(T3.4.4). To make synergy with the discussion at the Thematic Process, NARBO prepared the

concept paper and session proposal of the Thematic Session by considering what would be

discussed at the regional discussions such as viewpoint of the fields and ‘IWRM Indicator’.

NARBO attended the IMPLEMENTATION ROADMAP WORKSHOP of the 7WWF organized by the

7WWF secretariat on 26 February, 2015 in Paris and the Asia Pacific Pre-meeting to the 7th World

Water Forum organized by UNESCO on 12 March, 2015 in Jakarta, Indonesia and coordinated the

concept of the regional session and synergy with the Thematic Process discussion with

organizations concerned.


Organization Focal Point

(Contact info) Country Role Note


Network of Asian River Basin Organizations

Tadashige Kawasaki

Japan Coordinator


Session Group

ESCAP Salmah zakaria Thailand

GWP Fraser MacLeod Sweden

UNESCO Shahbaz Khan Indonesia


NARBO is one of the design group members of the T3.4 and session convener of the T3.4.4 and

attended the IMPLEMENTATION ROADMAP WORKSHOP of the 7WWF organized by the 7WWF

secretariat on 26 February, 2015 in Paris. Session program of the T3.4.4 has been developed by

inputting the issues and outlook of the region. Regional messages were also shared at the

43

concluding session on T3.4, and some parts of it were reflected into the messages for action as

T3.4.

NARBO joined the Ministerial Roundtable on IWRM as one of the observers to grasp leader’s voice

on IWRM in the world, and the importance of the enhancement of institutional framework and

development of technology on water resources management has been shared at the regional

session, in addition to the contribution to the preparation of the Ministerial Declaration with

commitment.



As stated at the regional summary, we endeavor to make more opportunities of sharing

experience and knowledge and enhance networking in the region to bridge the gaps in a smart

way and contribute to achieve international goals and target such as Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs) on water and IWRM and resolve to take follow-up actions with many stakeholders

concerned. NARBO committed to i ; Continue to use the UNESCO/NARBO ‘IWRM Spiral’ model,

‘IWRM Indicator’ and related training for improving IWRM capacity, and using locally adapted

guidelines for implementing IWRM at the river basin level, ii ; Enhance NARBO’s contributions by

active participation in regional activities for sustainability and to increase country-level NARBO

activities at the lowest practical level, and iii ; Resolve to contribute to the achievements of the

international goals on IWRM such as, the POST-2015 Agenda (Sustainable Development Goals) and

OECD Water Governance Initiatives, and it was committed on summary document of T3.4 which

included the summary of discussions at the INR3.4.


your session

Not only contributors of the session and NARBO member organizations but also donors, UN-

agencies, civil society, private sector, decision-makers and with actors outside the water sector will

be players to achieve our commitment. To make it happen, making more opportunities of sharing

experience and knowledge and enhance networking in the region to bridge the gaps in a smart

way will be explored by making use of existing activities and opportunities.


NARBO joined and the Concluding Session 3.4 and reported the summary of discussion of the

T3.4.4 including the summary of INR.3.4.AP. Concrete actions such as i ; SMART Dissemination of

Knowledge Products, ii ; Develop SMART Network among organizations to be able to access

knowledge on IWRM easily, and iii ; Develop and Accumulate knowledge on IWRM by using and

developing indicator - ‘IWRM Indicator’ which was developed the concept of IWRM spiral and

44

NARBO’s experience is applied at all levels and contribute to IWRM target on SDGs and monitored

at regular basis to measure the progress which have included some part of the summary of the

discussions ant commitment at INR.3.4.AP were stated on draft Implementation Roadmap of T3.4.

3.5.7 Conclusion

NARBO convened the sessions on IWRM as INR.3.4.AP and T3.4.4 and contributed to summarize the Ministerial Declarations with recommendation. By overarching the process, regional voice on IWRM has well influenced and incorporated to the summary of each process and made synergy. Furthermore, our achievement is expected to contribute to achieve SDGs goals and targets on water, especially target on IWRM.

Session 6: Special issue session ‘Development of Cooperation in the Aral 3.6Sea Basin to Mitigate Consequences of the Environmental Catastrophe’


The main purpose of the Central Asian special issue session is to intensify cooperation of the EC

IFAS with the international community, in particular, international organizations, financial

institutions, donors, foundations and regional countries in order to attract their attention and

efforts to address the problems of the Aral Sea and the implementation of the third phase of the

Aral Sea Basin Program (ASBP-3), approved by the Governments of Central Asian countries. Taking

into account the global character of the Aral Sea disaster, the session was focused on actual issues

of mitigating the negative impacts of this global ecological catastrophe.

3.6.2 Progress

Sub-regional preparatory process towards the 7th World Water Forum included two phases:

a) Preparatory Phase: was started after the Asia-Pacific Regional Kick-off Meeting for the 7th

World Water Forum held on 5 June, 2014 in Singapore. During this phase there was created sub-

regional working group (including EC IFAS, GWP CACENA, SIC ICWC, SIC CSD, CAREC). With

involvement of international agencies (SDC, GIZ, WB, UNECE and others) there was started sub-

regional dialogue that was accepted by all key actors/stakeholders as effective, inclusive and

transparent.

On 8-9 July in Dushanbe, Tajikistan there was held the Central Asian sub-regional Preparatory

Conference for the 7th World Water Forum, representing governments, international and regional

organizations, various UN agencies, financial institutions, civil society and other stakeholders of

the Central Asian sub-region, including the countries of Central Asia, Caucasus and Mongolia. The

45

Conference participants discussed the following priority themes of the 7th World Water Forum in

the context of existing and potential future water problems of the Central Asian sub-region:

Enough safe water for all;

Managing risk and uncertainty for resilience and disaster preparedness;

SMART implementation of IWRM;

Green growth, caring for water and industrial development;

Infrastructure for sustainable water management and water services;

Co-operation to reduce conflicts and improve the management of transboundary waters,

and noted the following:

Not all of the population of the sub-region has access to safe water and necessary

sanitation. Provision of safe water in sufficient quantity for all should be the priority in

national development policies and programs;

The existing problems in the Aral Sea Basin as well as new global and regional challenges

require urgent interventions on adaptation measures in the sub-region countries to

achieve resilience. Among these challenges, the most provocative and requiring adequate

measures include climate change, resulting in an intense melting of glaciers and water loss;

ecosystem degradation; and population growth, leading to increased water consumption.

Integrated water resources management is important tool for linking various types of

water use and solving many existing and emerging water issues. Sub-region countries are

at the initial path to the transition to IWRM and make every effort for its success based on

the successful experiences and best practices from other countries and river basins. Full

transition to the IWRMr.equires adequate resources, including time, human, financial and

technical.

Water resources are a major component of the Green economy. Green development can

be promoted by linking economic, social and environmental dimensions of water and

enhancing them through new innovative technologies and infrastructure. Water resources

can play a special role as a renewable energy source as well as for the socio-economic well-

being. At the same time, economic growth and industrial development in the sub-region

should be implemented in such a way as to avoid increasing stress on water resources.

Improvement and modernization of water infrastructure in the sub-region, the

introduction of water and energy-saving technologies as well as the construction of new

infrastructure are important tasks in order to achieve sustainable water management and

provide adequate water services.

Strengthening dialogue and mutual understanding and developing partnership and

cooperation, especially at the transboundary level, play key role in solving many problems.

46

It is necessary to develop specific and effective cooperation tools for effective

transboundary water management.

As a final point of the first phase of the preparatory process there was the International

conference held on 29 October 2014 in Urgench, Uzbekistan. The Conference was organized by

the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss

the situation in the Aral Sea Basin and mobilize the efforts of international community to carry out

practical actions in implementing programs and projects aimed at improving the environmental

and socio-economic situation in the Aral Sea Basin, as well as ensuring further development of

international cooperation to reduce the negative consequences of this global environmental

catastrophe. Finally, it was agreed by the Conference participants to conduct special issues sub-

regional session at the 7th World Water Forum with the topic: “Development of Cooperation in the

Aral Sea Basin to Mitigate Consequences of the Environmental Catastrophe”.

b) Consultations phase and preparations for their finalization at the 7th WWF in Korea: At

this stage there were organized by EC IFAS in cooperation with GWP CACENA first round of sub-

regional consultations and discussions among key stakeholders on the proposed ways of

cooperation and strategy options, capitalizing on synergies identified, addressing trade-offs and

reconciling different water use options within the Aral Sea Basin. By regional working group there

was produced assessment how to meeting regional needs and boundary conditions. As a result, on

28 November 2014 there was submitted to the Organizing Committee of the 7th World Water

Forum draft proposal for special issue session “Development of cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin

to mitigate consequences of the environmental catastrophe”.

The second round of the sub-regional consultations was conducted by EC IFAS and GWP CACENA

during December 2014 – February 2015. The final design of the special issue session was

submitted to the Organizing Committee of the 7th World Water Forum by the mid of March 2015.

The two hours long sub-regional session for Central Asia was proposed in form of high level panel

discussion addressing to the special issue related to the cooperation aspects in the Aral Sea basin.

The session agenda included some special focus to discuss solutions addressing to issues of the

ecosystems at dried Aral Sea bed, degradation of water quality along main rivers, soil salinization,

etc. During session it was expected a broader discussion on the findings with all relevant

stakeholders at all levels, including water users, planners, policy makers, and water professionals

from and outside the Central Asia. The roadmap of follow up actions proposed to be the main

output of the session discussions.


Organization Focal Point Country Role

47

(Contact info)

Session Coordinator

Global Water Partnership Regional Coordinator

Vadim Sokolov

Uzbekistan Coordination of the sub-regional process

Session Co-Coordinator

Executive Committee of the International Fund for the Aral Sea Saving (EC IFAS) Acting Chairman

Shavkat Khamraev

Uzbekistan Session Co-Coordinator

Session Group

Regional Water Sector and DRR Advisor, SDC

Thierry Umbehr

Switzerland Session Contributor

Executive Director Regional Environment Center of Central Asia

Iskander Abdullaev

Kazakhstan Session Contributor

Representative of Kazakhstan in EC IFAS Dauletyar Bayalimov

Kazakhstan Session Contributor

Representative of Tajikistan in EC IFAS Mavlon Kazakov

Tajikistan Session Contributor

Representative of Turkmenistan in EC IFAS

Meret Akmuradov

Turkmenistan Session Contributor

Representative of Uzbekistan in EC IFAS Normukhamad Sheraliev

Uzbekistan Session Contributor

Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, Finland

Seppo Rekolainen

Finland Session Contributor


Processes)

Regional Coordinator of GWP CACENA Dr. Vadim Sokolov on the request from the Deputy Minister

of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan participated (representing Uzbekistan) in the

Ministerial round table 2 - Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).

The issue “What is the best practice of IWRM in your country?” was discussed and in his speech,

Dr. Sokolov said that Uzbekistan is the only double-locked country on the continent that on 80%

depends on its neighbors for the available water resources. Since 2003 Uzbekistan has been

conducting the water sector reforms based on the IWRM principles. As a result of these reforms

and the constant lack of access to water resources Uzbekistan has reduced the total water

withdrawal from 64 km3 per year in 1990 to 51 km3 per year in the last five years.

With regard to the second issue “What steps will be needed to promote IWRM at the global and

national levels, as well as at the field level?” many participants expressed the idea that IWRM

should be the main tool to nexus of water for food and energy. Taking the floor in this debate, Dr.

Sokolov on behalf of Uzbekistan made comment that when talking about water nexus, we should

not forget about ecosystems, water to which has always been allocated based on leftover principle

after satisfying the needs for drinking, irrigation, industry and energy. As a result, we now have

such a global catastrophe as the Aral Sea desiccation. Central Asian countries are implementing

the third Aral Sea Basin program where IWRM is the central component, and we call upon the

international community to assist in the implementation of this program - to show an example of

how to avoid such disasters in other parts of the world in the future.

48

Speaking of the Nexus one should bear in mind not only the linkage - water for energy, but also

inverse - energy for water. In Uzbekistan, about 60% of agricultural land is irrigated with pumps;

and irrigation is the largest consumer of electricity. Water saving should be a key component of

the IWRM - as evidenced by the above figures on reduced total water consumption in Uzbekistan.

4th Meeting of the Asian Water High Level Roundtable (AWHoT).

Senior representatives of water agencies of 11 countries in Asia and the Pacific, officials of the

Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The meeting was opened by the K-Water President Mr. Gyewon Choi. Then the presentation of

official

Presentations of the working group results: Infrastructure and funding - Prof. Gene Gyuling Yu- National Taiwan University Water supply and sanitation - Prof. Ltong Shi-ju - Director of the Tropical Marine Science Institute Aral Sea - Dr. Vadim Sokolov - Regional Coordinator of GWP CACENA The book “Insight into Asian Water” includes reviews of water-related problems and their solutions in 11 Asian countries: Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Korea, Laos, Mongolia, Taiwan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, the Philippines and Japan. Review on Uzbekistan was prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan, the IFAS and GWP CACENA. High-level panel "Water Security" within the Science and Technology Process was opened with a video message from the UNESCO Director Ms.. Irina Bokova, who pointed out that 16% of all countries in the world and 40% of the population live under water stress. Current moment is characterized by growing awareness of water as a basis for sustainable development. A speech by CEO of K-Water Prof. Gyewon Choi presented the Korean understanding of water security as a combination of sustainable water supply for all; prevention of water related disasters; scientific, financial, technical and political cooperation on water; pollution control; basic water security mechanisms; IWRM; SMART Water; transparent and continuously available information. Co-Chair of the 7th World Water Forum International Committee Mr.. Soontak Lee added that water security is determined by the community’s ability to withstand drought, floods, climate change and typhoons. Korean people are united in understanding and confidence in scope of measures that the government and the people jointly organized. We are eager to help all developing countries in establishing a global water security system. Prof. Asit Biswas, Singapore, presented his new book "Water management and environmental challenges" and its main provisions. The world comes to a standstill in following "current trends" scenario, which turns into a scenario of unsustainable development. The middle class, which has grown around the world up-to 80%, imposes higher requirements for good food, electricity and water. Prices for these services have been increasing, without which sustainable water and electricity supply is impossible. Meanwhile, middle-class incomes are mostly frozen. Solution is prudent and rational use of water. It is necessary to change the life behavior paradigm to the rational, less material and more intelligent; this requires freedom from established habits and

49

lifestyles. Contribution and importance of the private sector has been increasing. Such mega-companies like Coca-Cola, Nestle, Suez, Natafim begin to define the global water policy - they, and not national governments. At the moment there are no signs of their monopoly and hegemony, but market competition may significantly affect the future mega force structure. Now is the time to define strict interaction rules of public and private organizations. This concern was supported by the representative of the African Development Bank, who proposed to strengthen the completeness, organized nature and clear mechanism for regulating private participation in water management and use, given their dependence on many factors and the possibility of market decline. In the comments I supported him on the example of our regional energy companies that are trying to dictate modes of water sources, and, in the future, water policy. Japanese professor Taikon Okt introduced some adjustments in the prediction of climate change and future distribution of rainfall throughout the planet. In Central Asia floods will reduce; in Siberia - increase. It is necessary to strengthen the global and regional early warning systems. National water security systems are required, based both on engineering structures and organizational measures and fullest motivation for water conservation. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Mr. Sirojitdin Aslov spoke from the perspective of the importance of cooperation and commitment of the republic to be an active creator of joint regional and national security in the region. UNESCO representative Ms. Blanca Ibanies voiced that according to the calculations of the IHP program the benefit from global cooperation on transboundary waters can give a 5% annual increase in global GDP. At the invitation of the World Water Council Prof. Dukhovny V.A., Director of SIC ICWC (Partner of GWP CACENA) participated in the signing of several memorandums of cooperation between national water organizations, aimed at the spread of innovation, knowledge transfer and development of training programs. Andong University, project "Water Education" USA-Canada, Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean, with the support of the Air Force, signed a protocol on Cooperative Water Education. A similar protocol was signed between the Korea Water Forum and the US Army Corps Engineers. During this event we were able to exchange information with the Director of Civil Works Corps Mr.. Steve Stockton about our efforts to create a distance learning program on water management and agreed on a possible exchange. Concluding session "Water for Food" within the Thematic Process was held under the leadership of IWMI Director Mr.. Jeremy Bird. Heads of regional sub-programs submitted their proposals, which were not very new. The representative of the FAO Head Office Mr. Unver Oclay presented a Water Management Roadmap, which included technological improvements, quality management, upgrades, adaptation to climate change, strengthening farm capacity, governance and reduced water consumption for irrigation. The emphasis was placed on the fact that irrigation is the largest water consumer in the world. Speech of GWP CACENA partner - SIC ICWC in the person of its Director, Prof.. Dukhovny - pointed out that irrigated agriculture cannot be seen only as water user depending only on the efficiency of water use. Irrigated agriculture defines a large tail of social and economic value, including not only food security but employment and well-being of the rural cluster. Irrigated agriculture requires comprehensive approach, which depends on the local adaptation of guaranteed coordinated development system of not only the water sector, but also associated supply of fertilizers, machinery, agricultural services, institutional and financial construction of land as well as social sector. Irrigation is the development engine of related rural processing, marketing, service and administration industries, which should be considered together.

50

In the Roadmap and speeches of panelists there was not a word about the impending threat to irrigated agriculture from hydropower systems that break much needed stability of water supply for farmers by instability modes of operation of hydropower units in the interest of energy consumption. Program Manager Mr. Oclay asked GWP CACENA to send him detailed proposals on the Roadmap.



The current challenges observed globally, including climate change, unprecedented increase in the demand for water, increasing water scarcity, reduction and pollution of fresh water, increased frequency of water-related disasters, intensive glacier melting, degradation of water ecosystems, desertification, environmental degradation, disruption of the ecological balance – all those are characteristic for the Central Asian Region and all them create significant problems related to the regional sustainable development.

Results of the Aral Sea desiccation are recognized by the countries of the basin as a complex of complicated environmental, socio-economic and demographic problems. Relatively not long ago, the Aral Sea had an important role in the economic development of Central Asia, especially for food production, employment, and the formation of a stable social infrastructure. The annual fish production in the Aral sea zone reached 35 million tons, the fertile lands in the delta of the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers, highly productive pastures and wetlands provided employment for millions of people.

However insensitive construction along the main rivers in the region of large-scale hydraulic structures and regulation of natural water flow of transboundary the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers created one of the largest ecological disaster in recent history of planet. The Aral Sea, formerly unique, beautiful and one of the largest in-land basins of the world, almost during one generation has disappeared out of life, which turned an unprecedented disaster and irreparable damage to prosperity of residing population, ecosystems and biodiversity of the Aral Sea region.

Over the past 50 years, the total inflow from the rivers Amudarya and Syrdarya to the Aral sea reduced by almost 5 times, the volume of the water mass in the Aral Sea has decreased more than 14 times, and the level of its salinity has increased almost 25 times, which led to the almost complete disappearance of fish and marine organisms previously lived in the waters of the Aral Sea.

The International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea was established in 1993 by five Central Asian states, is the only regional body supported at the highest political level, which provides an unique platform for regional and international cooperation to address the problems of the Aral Sea Basin.

In 2009 the Third Aral Sea Basin Program (ASBP-3) was approved by the Governments of the Member States of IFAS and aimed at ensuring a more effective and integrated management of water resources, improving the environmental situation and socio-economic conditions, as well as strengthening cooperation in Central Asia.

51

The countries of the region with the assistance and support from international organizations, financial institutions and governments of donor-countries are taking steps to address the problems of the Aral Sea Basin and improve the environmental and socio-economic situation in general.

Sub-regional process towards the 7th WWF recognized that situation in the Aral Sea basin in the field of water management, environmental and socio-economic conditions still remains difficult despite the efforts of the Central Asian countries to address the problems of the Aral crisis and mitigate the consequences of the Aral Sea desiccation. The further development within the Aral Sea Basin is complicated to move to desirable progress because of:

Population growth, especially in urban areas; Not adequate ecosystem approach and slow IWRM application; Ageing and degradation of water infrastructure; Absence of agreed mechanisms for funding to cover adequate operational expenses of

regional institutions related to water and ecosystems; Failure of the donor community to fully engage IFAS in preparation and implementation of

projects. In this regard, the EC IFAS – as the only policy making regional institution supported by the highest political level - reiterates the commitments to provide cooperative leadership and support to mutual efforts of five countries through the mobilization of resources from all sources, capacity-building and technology transfer towards real water security.


your session

Sub-regional coordination group is leaded by Executive Committee of the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea (EC IFAS) with support from GWP CACENA. The key stakeholders involved into sub-regional process are:

Interstate water and environmental organizations – IFAS and its sub-ordinated institutions, such as Interstate Coordination Water Commission (ICWC) and Interstate Commission of Sustainable Development (ICSD);

National water authorities from five countries, with contribution from water institutions from Afghanistan, Caucasus, Eastern Europe (Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, etc)and Mongolia;

Parliamentarians and national authorities, including Ministries of Foreign Affairs, water, energy and environmental authorities, etc;

National academic and educational institutions related to water, land and environment; Representatives of end-users’ institutions and NGOs: WUAs, associations of farmers and

householders, etc. Regional research and knowledge hubs: SIC ICWC, RHMC Central Asia, Center of Applied

Geo-Studies; Centre of Space Studies; Regional UN Centre on Preventive Diplomacy International networks such as: APWF, INBO-EECCA, GWP, REC Central Asia and REC

Caucasus, the Amudarya Basin Network, Network Water and Gender, NARBO, IWRA;

52

International institutes - partners: ICARDA, IWMI, IHE-UNESCO, IHP-HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science at the University of Dundee, SYKE, GGGI, KICT, SIWI;

Invited to contribute to the sub-regional process International agencies and donors:

ADB, WB, SDC, GIZ, KOICA, TICA, UNDP, UNECE, UN ESCAP, JWF, K-Water, USAID, EU Programs,

FAO, ICID, OECD, UNESCO, UNEP, ICIMOD, JICA, GEF, WWF and others.


Following the discussions during the session held in Gyeongju, for the effective and rational use of water resources, environment protection, socio-economic and sustainable development of the region, implementation of practical actions to mitigate the effects of the Aral Sea crisis, further strengthening of the regional cooperation to confront today's challenges and solve common problems in the Central Asian Region the participants of the special issue session proposed the following four areas for joint efforts of all stakeholders:

1. Strengthening of cooperation within IFAS – to ensure close interaction between the Member States of IFAS to address water, environmental and socio-economic problems of the Aral Sea Basin; strengthen the potential of the executive bodies of IFAS; and utilize the capacity and advantages of IFAS in addressing regional issues. The measures to promote and develop dialogue within the IFAS should be supported in order to achieve consensus between the countries.

2. Ensuring implementation of the ASBP-3 - it is necessary to take urgent measures to implement the regional and national ASBP-3 programs and projects, and, in this regard the financial and technical assistance from international organizations, financial institutions and governments of donor-countries should be extensively involved; to ensure greater involvement of the executive bodies of IFAS for more effective implementation of ASBP-3 regional projects.

3. Solution of the Aral Sea problems - given the enormity of the Aral Sea crisis and the problems to be solved, it is necessary to consolidate the efforts of the international community to eliminate the negative consequences of the Aral Sea desiccation and reduce its damaging effects on the environment and livelihoods of millions of people living in the area of environmental disaster. In this case, important tasks are to create conditions for reproduction and preservation of the gene pool and public health, development of social infrastructure, raising the quality and the living standard of people, preservation and restoration of biodiversity of flora and fauna.

4. Enhancing international cooperation – to develop mechanisms for effective interaction and cooperation of the Executive Committee of IFAS, the executive bodies of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination and the Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development with international organizations and financial institutions, as well as the donor community in order to attract their attention and efforts to address the problems of the Aral Sea Basin; to cooperate actively with the UN agencies, considering the UN General Assembly Resolution 63/133 dated December 11, 2008 on granting the observer status in the General Assembly to the IFAS.

53

Given the relevance of the above areas the special session participants call on international

organizations and financial institutions, as well as donor community to support IFAS and Central

Asian countries in the implementation of programs and projects in the Aral Sea Basin and the Aral

Sea area.

3.6.7 Conclusion

It is assumed that EC IFAS will organize the IFAS Board meeting in the end of 2015 to approve at

the highest political level the post 7th World Water Forum road-map (2015-2018) addressing to

implementation of the above-mentioned four areas. It should be agreed a prospective road-map

to promote the regional water dialogue for building consensus on water resources development

and management in Central Asia through providing a competence platform for various actors to

come together, understand each other’s interests and priorities and search for mutually

acceptable development options using available information and learning capacity (data,

monitoring and modelling tools, scientific research, etc.). Joint identification of opportunities

between different stakeholder groups is instrumental for being able to capitalize on synergies and

shared benefits, to address trade-offs and to reconcile different user options.

It is anticipated that the prospective road-map of cooperation building should include 5 key

implementation strategies:

Demonstration – using demonstration and testing of how to make cooperation operational in a basin as a basis for confidence and trust building, shared learning and joint action on concrete steps towards building national and transboundary water governance capacity.

Learning – using training and capacity building for multiple stakeholder groups.

Dialogue for consensus building – initiate actions and learning events to demonstrate and catalyze new dialogues on technical, development, and political issues.

Leadership – supporting empowerment of champions for transboundary water cooperation and improved water governance who can effectively advocate mobilization of water diplomacy capacity.

Advice and support – providing advice and technical assistance to governments and stakeholders on demand and including development and use of institutional and legal frameworks.

The Central Asian sub-region expressed the all stakeholder’s gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Korea, the Forum Organizing Committee and Asia-Pacific Water Forum for the support and creation of conditions for the preparation and conducting of the special issue session under the Regional Process of the 7th World Water Forum.

54

Session 7: Integrated Ecosystem Management of Trans-boundary River 3.7in Northeast Asia


The neighbouring countries in Northeast Asia are sharing not only the social and economic aspects, but also the landscape and rivers, which requires a close cooperation concerning management and preservation and a platform to discuss the issues surrounding the trans-boundary Rivers. Especially, those nations, Republic of Korea (ROK), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), China and Mongolia and Russia consist of many trans-boundary rivers due to the geographical proximity of the region. As a regional initiative of Northeast Asia, “Integrated Ecosystem Management of Trans-boundary River” would be a proper session topic for the Asia Pacific regional process. The objectives of the session are to identify the current situation of trans-boundary ecosystem management, to explore the opportunity to develop joint project among those countries. The session will be made to strengthen the partnership and share information on trans-boundary ecosystem management in the region to accomplish the proposed targets.

Presentations and Panel Discussions Topic (ROK) Discussions on ways to co-develop the database of the ecosystem on the trans-boundary rivers; Han river and Imgin river.

(Mongolia and Russia) Cooperative projects on composing a governance framework, to protect the UNESCO world cultural heritage, Baikal Lake.

(China) Embarking operations on trans-boundary river for cooperative effort, regarding preservation.

(Intl Organizations) Initiating cooperative projects on issues of global governance and trans-

boundary rivers.

3.7.2 Progress

Meeting date: 15:00 (KR time), 9th of March, Skype conference call Participants: Mr. Sergey Kudelya (UNDP- GEF, Lake Baikal Project manager) Prof. Dongil Seo (Chungnam University), Dr. Sangyoung Park (Korea Water Forum), Ms.

Heather Lee(Korea Water Forum)



Country Role Note


Korea Water Forum Mr. Sangyoung Park

Korea Coordinator

55


- - - -

Session Group

UNDP- GEF Mr. Sergey Kudelya Mongolia Speaker

Shangri-la Institute for Sustainable

Mr. Mr. Peihong Philip Xie

China Speaker

Ajou University, School of Law

Prof. Byung-Chun So

Korea Speaker

Chungnam National Univ.

Prof. Dongil Seo Korea Moderator

Shangri-la Institute for Sustainable

Ms. Elizabeth Olson China Panel

Tufts Univ. Prof. Setven C. Chapra

USA Panel

UNDP-GEF Dr. Vladimir Mamaev

Mongolia Panel

UNDP- GEF Dr. Sodnom Tumurchudur

Mongolia Panel


Processes)

Political Process: In the welcoming remarks, the President of the Republic of Korea, Park

Geun-hye, mentioned the importance of peaceful public use of the shared rivers of North and

South Korea (Bukhan River, Imjin River)

Ministerial Declaration, National Assembly Declaration: It was emphasized that to wisely cope

with the increasing threat of water related disasters and uncertainties, integrated water

resources management at the basin level is essential.


The development of cooperative projects and interactive platforms was achieved through the

participation of those countries in the Northeast Asia region. A framework on the governance

system and further collaborative methods was derived from the


For effective management of transboundary ecosystem, 3 elements stated below need to be

established; (1)Legal and institutional framework for the transboundary ecosystem management,

(2) Information sharing among stakeholders, such as GIS and data sources for the development of

Joint project, (3) Application of best practices with International Corporation.

56


your session

The key stakeholders of this session are the governmental bodies, organizations with practical

technology of the necessary skills and the international organizations that can provide the

adequate mandate and suggest the proper balance of economic development of the region and

ecosystem management.

3.7.6 Conclusion

For effective management of transboundary ecosystem, 3 elements stated below need to be

established; (1)Legal and institutional framework for the transboundary ecosystem management,

(2) Information sharing among stakeholders, such as GIS and data sources for the development of

Joint project, (3) Application of best practices with International Corporation.

The development of cooperative projects and interactive platforms will be achieved through the

participation of those countries in the Northeast Asia region. A framework on the governance

system and further collaborative methods will be derived from the regional process.

Session 8: Korea-Japan-China Trilateral Forum on Water Resources: 3.8“Trilateral Cooperation for Water Policy Innovation in Response to Persistent and Emerging Water Challenges”


The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS), an international organization established in 2011 in

Seoul upon the agreement among the governments of the Republic of Korea (Korea), Japan and

the People’s Republic of China (China) aims to serve as a cooperation hub for trilateral cooperation

that encompasses the broad spectrum of sectors and actors.

With mandates of providing supports for trilateral mechanisms and exploring and facilitating

cooperative projects, the TCS organized the Trilateral Forum on Water Resources with the theme

of "Trilateral Cooperation for Water Policy Innovation in Response to Persistent and Emerging

Water Challenges" in special collaboration with The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

of the ROK (MOLIT), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan (MLIT),

and the Ministry of Water Resources of China (MWR), back-to-back with the Trilateral Ministerial

Meeting on Water Resources.

Experts from the three countries presented ideas on the common agenda of the three countries

and discussed how to jointly implement it in the future. The goal of the Trilateral Forum on Water

Resources was to share national policies and best practices, and to collect ideas for the future

57

trilateral cooperation. Hence, the Forum was a platform to seek how to sustain the trilateral

cooperation on water resources.

3.8.2 Progress

Korea, Japan and China established a new trilateral consultative mechanism on water resources

in 2012 by signing the Memorandum of Cooperation on the Mechanism of Ministerial Meeting

among MWR, MLIT, and MOLIT during the 6th WWF in Marseille, France in 2012. Based on the

consensus among the three countries that water is essential but vulnerable in its sustainable

management and that the Northeast Asia suffers from large-scale natural disasters related to

water, TCS explored a possible cooperative project on the trilateral consultative mechanism on

water resources newly established in 2012. TCS prepared to host the Korea-Japan-China

Trilateral Forum on Water Resources at the 7th WWF, by organizing working-level consultation

meeting in order to provide a platform for the Ministries to get together and to promote TCS’

plans:

<Timeline>

Trilateral Ministerial Meeting on Water Resources

Theme: Collaborative Actions for Water Policy Innovation

Date: April 13 (Mon), 2015, 13:00-13:30

Host: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea (MOLIT)

13:00-13:25

Opening

Speeches

Mr. YOO Il-ho, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Republic of Korea (Chair)

Mr. OHTA Akihiro, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan

Dr. JIAO Yong, First Vice Minister of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China

Joint Statement, Signing Ceremony and Photo Session

Trilateral Forum on Water Resources

Trilateral Cooperation for Water Policy Innovation in Response to Persistent and Emerging Water Challenges

Date: April 13 (Mon), 2015, 13:30-15:00

Host: Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS)

13:30-13:35

Opening

Session

Opening Speech

Mr. IWATANI Shigeo, Secretary-General of TCS

13:35-14:50

Discussion

Session

Moderator: Dr. YOON Byung-Man, President of the Korea Water Resources Association (KWRA)

& Professor of Myongji University, the ROK

Presentation 1 (13:40-13:55)

Speaker: Dr. SHIN Hyun Suk, Professor of Pusan National University, Director of Green Land and

Water Management Research Institute, the ROK

Topic: Future Smarter and Integrated Water Management Policy (SIWM) for Sustainable Korean

Water Reform, and Trilateral Cooperation

58



Country Role Note


Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS)

KIM Yeonsoo (Ms.) [email protected]

Korea Program Coordinator


Session Group

TCS IWATANI Shigeo Opening Speaker

Myongji University YOON Byung-Man Korea Moderator

Pusan National University

SHIN Hyun Suk Korea Speaker

Japan Water Agency KOMURA Kenyu Japan Speaker

Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources

XUE Songgui China Speaker

TCS LEE Jong-heon Closing Speaker



Speaker: Mr. KOMURA Kenyu, President of Japan Water Agency, Japan

Topic: Optimization of Water Cycle Policy in Japan in Response to Global Climate Change with

Focus on Risk Reduction of Water-related Disasters, and Future Trilateral Cooperation


Speaker: Mr. XUE Songgui, Vice Commissioner, Yellow River Conservancy Commission, Ministry

of Water Resources, People’s Republic of China

Topic: Approaches and Methods to Realize the Integrated Water Resources Management in the

Yellow River Basin

Discussion

Discussion

Open Q&A

Wrap-up

14:50-15:00

Closing Session

Closing Speech

Speaker: Mr. LEE Jong-heon, Deputy Secretary-General of TCS

Topic: Importance of trilateral cooperation on water resources as one of the best practices in

water cooperation in Asia-Pacific region

59

The Session invited water-related government officials and experts from the three countries in

collaboration with the three Ministries. Session speakers introduced government policies and

practices, and exchanged their view on the future trilateral cooperation on water resources.

Mr. SHIN Hyunsuk shared a Korean development history on water resources management that

Korea had been overcome over time through development of water management policies against

water crises due to climate change and urbanization. Currently, Korean policy on water

management focuses on well-distributing the infrastructure and integrating all water-related

sectors in its management. For the future smarter IWRM concept and direction, Korea should

consider smarter water management, sustainable water management, water security, water-

energy-food nexus, people’s well-being, multi-level water governance, green growth, and

preparation of reunification between North and South Korea.

Mr. KOMURA Kenyu from Japan Water Agency introduced Japan’s basic act on water cycle policy

in effect in 2014 of which headquarters was established to promote the sound water cycle headed

by the Prime Minister ABE Shinzo. The basic act on water cycle policy aims to promote the value of

water cycle across the country, to clarify the basic principles of the water cycle upon implementing

water cycle measure, to clarify responsibilities of stakeholders such as the state, local

governments, business operators and citizens.

Mr. XUE Songgui from the Yellow River Conservancy Commission under the MWR introduced that

the water allocation policy in the Yellow River basin was implemented at country and local level

combined and through the negotiation with relevant stakeholders considering both environmental

protection and economic development in the region. The policy instrument consists of 3 red lines

(water development and utilization, water use efficiency, limit of pollutant discharge in the water

function zone) and 4 systems (limit on total water use system, water use efficiency control, limit

on total pollutant discharge in water function zone system and water management responsibilities

and evaluation system).

TCS also published a promotional booklet <China-Japan-ROK Cooperation on Water Resources – in

Response to Persistent and Emerging Water Challenges> in special collaboration with MWR, MLIT

and MOLIT. It contains the importance of water resources, the history of trilateral cooperation on

water resources and best practices of the three countries. It had been distributed not only to the

audience of the Session but also to the general public.


3 experts shared the same view on 3 countries’ contribution to the development of water

resources management and policy innovation and had a similar idea on establishing a trilateral

expert framework. Mr. XUE suggested establishing a regular trilateral mechanism to share national

know-how and to implement the outcome. He also suggested conducting a river basin

comparative research on development, plan, management, technology and its impact. Mr.

KOMURA said Asia has common water problems due to population growth, industrialization and

climate change. He suggested gathering water-related working experts from the three countries

and planning practical projects. Mr. SHIN proposed to establish a water resources management

60

research group that can operate commonly a pilot river basin area, explore common research

topics, and respond to water management due to climate change in Northeast Asia. He also

suggested a common research on water history in Northeast Asia to develop water management

technology for Northeast Asia.


your session

The three countries are the main and the most important actors in Northeast Asia. As the sub-

region, the three countries are also active to raise a common voice in Asia Pacific framework. The

session provided a platform to gather relevant stakeholders including the three Ministries (MOLIT,

MLIT, and MWR), research institutes, international agencies, experts’ networks, academia, NGOs

and private sectors to discuss further possible cooperative projects and future implementation to

follow up outcomes of the Joint Statement of the 2nd Trilateral Ministers Meeting on Water

Resources.

3.8.5 Conclusion

The Northeast Asian region witnessed a surge in large-scale natural disasters such as floods and

tsunamis in recent years. All the three countries realize that trilateral cooperation to prevent

natural disasters would be to the mutual benefit of all parties involved. Followed by the 1st

Trilateral Ministers Meeting on Water Resources in 2012, the three countries signed the Joint

Statement during the 2nd Trilateral Ministers Meeting on Water Resources. The Joint Statement

under the theme of Actions for Water Policy Innovation aims to strengthen the core role of water

resources in sustainable development, improve synergy among relevant government agencies and

relevant stakeholders, enhance the resilience of water infrastructure and attract more financial

investment into the water sector. The goals of promoting the water policy innovation are to

improve water security in the three countries and to share and spread good practices of each

country to other countries.

The Trilateral Forum on Water Resources organized by TCS, with mandate of providing support for

the trilateral consultative mechanism and exploring potential cooperative projects, was a platform

where governments, academia, experts, and private sectors gathered together for further

cooperation. It contributed not only to promoting the trilateral cooperation on water resources

but also to international communities to gain the common global goal of world development. For

next 3 years, TCS will make efforts to interact with or invite those relevant stakeholders by

planning further follow-up projects.

61

4 Regional issues Synthesis (Final Session)

Final Regional Session: The Asia-Pacific Regional Synthesis & 4.1Commitment Session

4.1.1 Session Program

Date and Time: Wednesday, April 15, 2015, 14:40 - 19:00

Venue: B1F, Convention C/ Room 5/ GHH_B 105, Hyundai Hotel Gyeongju, Republic of Korea

Program Speaker(s)

Opening remarks Mr. Yoshiro Mori, President, APWF, to be

represented by Dr. Kotaro Takemura, Secretary

General, Japan Water Forum as Secretariat of APWF

Regional Water Security Status

Introduction Mr. Gil-Hong Kim, Senior Director, Sector Advisory

Service Division, Regional and Sustainable

Development Department, ADB

Asian Water Development

Outlook

Ms. Yasmin Siddiqi, Principal Water Resources

Specialist, Sector Advisory Service Division, Regional

and Sustainable Development Department, ADB

Regional Synthesis

Water and Cities Dr. Shahbaz Khan, Deputy Director, UNESCO Regional

Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific

Water and Green Growth Dr. Salmah Zakaria, Economic Affairs Officer, ESCAP

Water and Food Security Mr. Thierry Facon, Senior Water Management

Officer, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific

Water-related Disasters and

Climate Change

Dr. Ramesh Ananda Vaidya, Senior Advisor, ICIMOD

Integrated Water Resources

Management

Mr. Koichiro Omoto, NARBO Secretariat

Rural Water and Sanitation Ms. Hilda Winartasaputra, Regional WASH Specialist,

Plan International Asia Regional Office

Development of Cooperation

in the Aral Sea Basin

Dr. Vadim Sokolov, Regional Coordinator, GWP

CACENA

Trans-boundary River in

Northeast Asia

Dr. Deukkoo Koh, Secretary General, KWF

Korea-Japan-China Trilateral

Cooperation

Ms. Yuko Akita, Director of Economic Affairs,

Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat

Hydrological Services Dr. Sung Kim, Senior Research Fellow, Hydro Science

62

and Engineering Research Institute, KICT

The Caribbean and the Pacific Dr. Jose Luis Martin Bordes, Programme Officer,

Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance, UN-

HABITAT

Summary of Asia-Pacific

regional outcomes

Mr. Ravi Narayanan, Chair of the APWF Governing

Council

Regional Commitments (High-level Dialogue)

Moderators:

● Ms. Changhua Wu, Vice Chair, APWF Governing Council ● Prof. Simon SC Tay, Vice Chair, APWF Governing Council

Country delegates:

● Sultan Rahimzoda, 1st Deputy Minister of Energy & Water Resources, Tajikistan Panellists:

● Dr. Keizrul Bin Abdullah, Chairperson, Network of Asian River Basin Organizations

● Dr. Uschi Eid, Chair of United Nations Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB)

● Mr. Gil-Hong Kim, Senior Director, Sector Advisory Service Division, Regional and Sustainable Development Department, ADB

● Mr. Shigeo Mizutani, President and Representative Director, Swing Corporation ● Mr. Mark Pascoe, Chief Executive Officer, International Water Centre ● Mr. Ponce Ernest Samaniego, ADB Youth Coordinator / International Youth

Steering Committee ● Ms. Jayamala Subramaniam, Chief Executive Officer, Arghyam Foundation

Audience interactions

Closing Remarks Mr. Ravi Narayanan, Chair of the APWF Governing Council

*The session proceedings are attached separately.

Key messages 4.2

The Asia-Pacific region can be characterized by staggering diversities in terms of social,

economic, cultural, political and geographical conditions, varying sizes and different

stages of development and transition that present opportunities and challenges. The

region is also facing a large velocity of change that poses yet more challenges to the

region’s sustainable development.

There are, however, some common principles that underpin the regional water security.

The principles are built around the idea of policy development which focuses on

infrastructure, institution and information and which leads the investment and capacity

building so that policies can be implemented. Technologies are also important to support

the implementation of policies.

63

Moving from insights to action requires the identification of what is to be done, who is to

do it and how to do it. The apex organizations should continue to play a crucial role as

they operate in multi-locations with a wide range of partners and actors including

government. In order for them to do so, they need to be called “lateral” and “linear”,

which means that they shall work widely across the region as well as deep inside each

country. Moreover, building up credible case studies as the basis for recommendations is

essential for no case can be made without examples.

The messages have to be crafted smartly. There is a need for a case to be made on

economic, social and political grounds such that it will appeal more to the decision makers

- both bureaucratic and democratic. Monetizing benefits and loses and/or other non-

monetary indicators and tracking methods should be employed. Each of these processes

should be measured.

Governments should be taking a large role for setting regulations, incentives and targets

by using tools such as the IWRM and the efficient water resource management, as well as

engaging a range of stakeholders with the benefits of good up-to-date information and by

managing these against a background of transition in the Asia-Pacific region and trade-

offs between economic, social and political objectives.

5 Outcomes

Outcomes from the regional sessions are as follows:

A White Paper: “Water and Cities: Implementing Ecotechnologies for Urban Water Security in

Asia-Pacific Region” (UNESCO)

A White Paper on Water and Food Security in the Asia-Pacific (FAO Regional Office for Asia

and the Pacific, April 2015)

Session Resolution which was unanimously adopted by the participants (GWP CACENA)

Case study collections for Building Resilience to Water-Related Disasters in the Asia-Pacific

Region (ICIMOD)

64

Recommendations 5.1

The following recommendations emerged from the high level dialogue at the regional synthesis

meeting during the 7th World Water Forum, reflecting the wide range of views and ideas of the

participants.

There is a fundamental need for stepwise changes to overcome this transition period in the

Asia-Pacific region. Champions are needed at all levels. Leadership needs to be encouraged

and we must not be afraid to empower young leaders.

Involve other decision makers, such as the finance and planning ministries which allocate

resources, in tackling water issues.

Improve infrastructure investments and water tariffs to achieve an economically sustainable

model for water security.

Scale up investments in the capacities of water-related institutions.

Scale up investments in sanitation to reduce the price-cost ratio and achieve more rapid

sustainable development.

Address the issue of disconnect between global and national levels, where political leadership

appears to place more emphasis on project development but less on execution and

sustainability, and also the realities on the ground where developments are moving along at a

slower pace.

Governance is a key requirement for the effective implementation of policies.

Bridge the gap between finance and project developers in order to achieve economically

viable projects for investors.

Train more “T-shaped water professionals” who have both a deep understanding of technical

issues and an ability to work and communicate effectively with other sectors.

Recognize the issue of what happens beyond the toilet and reflect it in the sanitation related

SDGs.

Share experiences of the private sector regarding the water-related natural disasters among

Asia-Pacific countries as they can contribute to water security with technical resources.

65

Develop the whole concept of alliances and partnerships above and beyond the customary

friendship, especially youth movements and civil society, so that they can contribute

significantly to solving the region’s current and future water challenges.

Implement a good monitoring platform using indicators for reviewing and measure the

progress in reaching the internationally-agreed targets.

Recommendations need to be carried on to the next international event so as not to start

from the beginning each time. Institutional memory, good documentation and smart

communication will be required in ensuring continuity.

Follow-up steps after the 7th World Water Forum 5.2

5.2.1 Implementation of the action plan and monitoring

Water is a fundamental resource and as such its sustainable management is at the heart of human

security and the social and economic development of nations. As synthesized in the report, all the

people concerned have continued to work together on an integrated approach to the challenges

of regional water security. Furthermore, the Asia-Pacific member countries recognize the need for

continued leadership and commitment in order to move forward the vision of a water secure Asia-

Pacific region.

The Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) will continue to be the strong regional water platform and

to bridge the regional voices with decision-makers through the Asia-Pacific Water Summits (APWS)

which bring together heads of governments and various sector leaders to discuss the critical

regional water challenges and make commitments. Building and reflecting on the outcomes and

recommendations emerged from the Asia-Pacific regional process; the 3rd APWS, which will be

held in 2017, will aim at furthering knowledge-sharing and influencing national, regional and

international leaders to make positive changes for the life and livelihoods of the region’s people.

Furthermore, the Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO), a publication created by the APWF

and ADB, will be further disseminated to the leaders and water practitioners to guide their actions

on water security nationally and in their communities.

6 Conclusion

A total of 11 sessions related to the critical regional water challenges was organized under the

Asia-Pacific regional process for the 7th World Water Forum. Throughout the preparation period

as well as during the sessions in Korea, the discussions covered the areas of priority that require

concrete commitments, the conditions that will be the basis of future action strategies, the

66

barriers to reaching last mile communities, the expected roles for each player in the field, as well

as the importance of measuring the progress.

Climate change, urbanization, and population increase will all have significant impacts on water

resources. Knowledge-sharing of the science and technology is advancing but political

commitment, appropriate legal framework and financial mechanisms are additionally required to

enable the knowledge to be incorporated into real world scenarios. Raising water issues to the

level of decision makers should be a critical concern of all the people working in the water sector,

so that the water issues could be prioritized on their national agenda. Moreover, while appealing

to the leaders with clear and smart messages, it would also be necessary to bridge the gaps

between the knowledge of the decision makers and the reality that the people working on the

ground are facing so as to implement appropriate actions and strategies.

In summary, the momentum on water was gained once again. At the Asia-Pacific regional

synthesis meeting, the regional water actors and stakeholders presented their strong will to

collaborate positively in a stepwise approach toward solving the regional water issues.

7 Acknowledgements

The Secretariat of the APWF would like to thank the regional thematic leaders who committed

their time and expertise as the session coordinators and provided input to the Asia-Pacific

Regional Process, namely: Asian Development Bank (ADB), Food and Agriculture Organization of

the United Nations (FAO), Global Water Partnership for Caucasus and Central Asia (GWP CACENA),

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Korea Institute of Civil

Engineering and Building Technology (KICT), Korea Water Forum (KWF), Korea Water Resources

Corporation (K-water), Network of Asian River Basin Organization (NARBO), Plan International,

Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)/

Global Water Operators’ Partnerships Alliance (GWOPA), United Nations Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific

Organization (UNESCO); and in consultation with the following institutions: Arghyam Foundation,

Global Water Partnership Organization (GWPO), Global Water Partnership South Asia (GWP SAS),

Global Water Partnership Southeast Asia (GWP SEA), International Center for Water Hazard and

Risk Management (ICHARM), PUB Singapore, International Water Center (IWC) and Japan Water

Forum (JWF) . Special gratitude is extended to Mr. Yoshiro Mori, President of APWF, Mr. Ravi

Narayanan, Chair of the Governing Council of APWF, Ms. Changhua Wu and Professor Simon SC

Tay, Vice-Chairs of the Governing Council of APWF for their guidance and chairing a series of

preparatory meetings for the 7th World Water Forum.

67

Annexes

a) A White Paper on Water and Food Security in the Asia-Pacific (FAO)

b) Case Study Collection by ICIMOD for the session “Building Resilience to Water-Related

Disaster in the Asia-Pacific Region”

c) GWP CACENA’s Final Session Report for Asia-Pacific Regional Process

d) ICIMOD’s Final Session Report for Asia-Pacific Regional Process

e) JWA (NARBO secretariat)’s Final Session Report For Asia-Pacific Regional Process

f) The Proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Regional Kick-off Meeting for the 7th World Water Forum

(APWF)

g) The Proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Forum 15th Governing Council Meeting (APWF)

h) The Proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Forum 16th Governing Council Meeting (APWF)

i) The Proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Regional Synthesis & Commitment Session at the 7th

World Water Forum (APWF)

j) UNESCO’s Session Report for Asia-Pacific Regional Process

k) UN-HABITAT/GWOPA’s Session Report for Inter-regional Session for Caribbean and the Pacific

l) Water and Cities Implementing Ecotechnologies for Urban Water Security in Asia- Pacific

Region (UNESCO)

final report the asia-pacific regional process for the 7th world … · 2018. 5. 17. · final...

Documents