The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit (APWS) will be held in Beppu in Oita Prefecture of Japan on December 3 and 4 this year seeking to mobilize the political will and commitment to put water high up in the national agenda of the countries in the region.

Around 300 people, including top-level leaders from various sectors like industry, public, education, local organizations and media, from 49 countries are expected to attend the summit. The central theme of the summit is 'Water Security: Leadership and Commitment'. Besides, stakeholders involved in water and sanitation issues including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), The Wold Conservation Union (IUCN), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and UNESCO, are also expected to participate in the summit, said a press release.

The 1st APWS is being convened by the Steering Committee for the Asia-Pacific Water Summit and the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF), under the chairmanship of former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, in collaboration with the APWF's governing council, chaired by Prof Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-large of Singapore. Exchanging on the central theme of 'Water Security: Leadership and Commitment', top level dignitaries will make speeches in the plenary session, while a series of thematic panel sessions are scheduled to discuss in further depth.

Some of the issues of concern such as climate change, water financing, water-related disaster management, water for development and ecosystems, developing knowledge and lessons, increasing local capacity, monitoring investments and results, the private sector water mandate, will also feature in the deliberations.

In parallel to the 1st APES, an Open Event forum will be held in Beppu from December 1-5, with a broad participation from civil society stakeholders, multilateral organisations, and others. The conclusions from the summit will be conveyed to upcoming political events in Japan, namely TICAD and the G8 Summit in 2008. The 1st APWS is being sponsored by Coca-Cola Company Limited (Japan), Canon Inc., with support from the ADB and the government of Japan government, among others.

The Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) is working to increase the region' s access to improved water supplies and sanitation, protect and restore river basins, and reduce people's vulnerability to water disasters. The APWF champions efforts aimed at boosting investments, building capacity, increasing public outreach and enhancing cooperation in the water sector at the regional level. "The fact is that, at present, in Asia and the Pacific, 700 million of our citizens do not have access to safe drinking water, the region suffers disproportionately from water-related disasters and degraded land-water ecosystems significantly threaten water productivity," said former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori. "We can turn the situation around if we can agree to make water a high priority in our development plans, if we acknowledge that the access to safe drinking water is a basic human right of our people," he added.

In calling for the creation of the APWF at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico in 2006, the region's water ministers sought to establish an effective mechanism to encourage more collaborative efforts on water resources management and to accelerate the process of effective integration of water resources. The Asia-Pacific Water Ministerial Meeting also called upon the APWF to organise Asia-Pacific Water Summits, to be held, once every 2-3 years.