By Maggi Barnard
One WorldMarch 17, 2003
Delegates at the third World Water Forum (WWF) in Japan will have to fight hard not to be sidetracked from the global battle for access to water, and sanitation, by hostilities in the Middle East.
"Our discussions will have far more effect on humankind for the 21st century than the current crisis in the Middle East, or any political problem of the day," William Cosgrove, World Water Council Vice President told the WWF's daily newspaper.
The first United Nations system-wide evaluation of global water resources predicts that the global water crisis will reach unprecedented levels in the years ahead with "growing per capita scarcity of water in many parts of the developing world". Water resources will steadily decline because of population growth, pollution and expected climate change.
The number of delegates - 10 000 - expected at the conference might drop because of the looming war, with people preferring not to leave their countries. At least one world leader, French President Jacques Chirac has pulled out of the conference.
Dr Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, President of the World Water Council and Minister of Water and Irrigation in Egypt said the way forward includes promoting water for world peace and security. "We must make funding part of the new world water order," he said.
Ryutaro Hasimoto, Chairman of the National Steering Committee, and former Prime Minister of Japan said it is time for concrete actions to achieve targets set at last year's Earth Summit in Johannesburg.
While the conference include many new topics such as water and poverty, water and culture and water and communication, the controversial theme of public-private partnerships will be hotly debated.
The International Rivers Network (IRN) says the World Water Forums are a web of think tanks, corporations, agencies and lobby groups attempting to control the global discourse of water problems and solutions.
* The World Water Forum in Kyoto is the largest-ever international meeting devoted to the world's worsening water problems.
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