Preparatory Meeting Held for the 3rd World Water Forum

The Japanese government held the Second Informal Advisory Meeting on January 30 and 31, 2003, as a preparatory meeting for the Ministerial Conference on the occasion of the Third World Water Forum, to be held in Kyoto this March. The aim of this meeting was to gather a wide range of opinions as input for discussions. Nearly 300 representatives from 95 countries and 21 international organizations participated.

The government explained that it saw the Ministerial Declaration, expected to result from the March meeting, as a follow-up of the World Summit on Sustainable Development that was held in Johannesburg in September 2002, and hoped the declaration would present a powerful and action-oriented political message to the world.

The following issues submitted by the government were discussed:

-How can humanity achieve the target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation by 2015?
-Since water for food and agriculture accounts for 70 percent of world water extraction, how do we promote the efficient use of water in irrigation leading to rural development and the eventual eradication of poverty?
-How do we promote environmental conservation, including forest conservation, to improve the hydrological cycle?
-What measures should be taken, including international collaboration, to address the growing numbers of flood victims every year?
-How do we meet the goal of drawing up plans for integrated water resource management in all countries by 2005?



Posted: 2003/02/25 09:57:43 AM
Japanese version