Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Bridge over Troubled Water?

The World Water Forum adds another event to the host of international fora on water and sanitation. Neither an intergovernmental negotiation meeting, nor primarily a knowledge sharing or scientific forum, the World Water Forum occupies a unique space on the international water and sanitation agenda. Hannah Stoddart, Stakeholder Forum, talks to the Vice Secretary General and the Executive Director of the World Water Forum.

The slogan for the 5th World Water Forum, ‘Bridging Divides for Water’, makes the host city Istanbul an ideal location, says Ahmet Mete Saatci, Vice Secretary General of the World Water Forum who believes that the Forum offers the perfect opportunity to ‘bridge politicians and stakeholders, young and old, and international co-operation. In an honest acknowledgement of the role that high-profile conferences can play in promoting tourism, he welcomes such a ‘prestigious event’ in his country.

In response to the questions as to the ‘added value’ of the world water forum in an already crowded international agenda on water and sanitation, Daniel Zimmer stresses that the World Water Forum is all about dialogue: ‘this is an event that can truly engage stakeholders; it isn’t just about presentations and speeches, it’s about debate and exchange. It brings a wide range of stakeholders around the table, building connections between the technical community and the political community, helping them to understand the priorities and expertise of the other. It also helps to empower local stakeholders, and Ahmet Mete Saatci points to the Istanbul Water Consensus of city Mayors which is a voluntary compact setting targets for water and sanitation in urban centres.

Communities and connections

When asked how the World Water Forum defines ‘stakeholders’, Daniel Zimmer stresses that the Forum is making increased efforts to engage Major Groups, but also touches on the issue of stakeholder equity, stressing that it is important to have focal points to identify the relevant stakeholders in each Group. He points to the Virtual Meeting Space that they have ‘paid a lot of money for’ which will help to engage Major Groups more effectively in the preparatory process.

In terms of the relationship between World Water Forum and the CSD, both stress that the Forum complements and contributes to the policy process, pointing to the preparation on Water and Food that will be valuable to the agriculture discussions at CSD-17 next year, and highlighting the plans of the Forum to attempt to integrate water discussions to the meeting of the UNFCCC in Copenhagen next year. Besides the complementary research being done in preparation for the COP, they also point to research done on Water and Food in preparation for the CSD-17 cycle next year.

Peaceful plans

To round up the interview, Daniel Zimmer states that one of the unique selling points of the Forum is creating a space in which space in which more ‘peaceful’ discussions can take place, not dominated by the predictable polarizations of North and South that often dominate a lot of UN intergovernmental processes. Out of this space he hopes will emerge 100 concrete questions that need to be addressed to meet international commitments on water and sanitation. Ambitious plans indeed – let’s hope CSD-17 can be equally ambitious.