Water Week 2004 to Look Beyond Conventional Solutions to Increase Poor's Access to Water

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (23 January 2004) - More than 300 water experts from across Asia and the Pacific will be in Manila next week for ADB's second Water Week.

From January 26-30, water specialists from government, civil society, and business will explore how to go beyond conventional solutions in increasing the poor's access to water. The theme this year is "Water for the Poor: Setting the Rules and Finding the Money."

The Week starts on Monday with a follow-up meeting for Asia of the 3rd World Water Forum and an ADB-NGO Dialogue.

Michel Camdessus, formerly Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and chair of the World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure, will open the three-day main program on Tuesday with a keynote presentation - Financing Water for All, to be followed by a speech from ADB President Tadao Chino.

Other keynote speakers will include:

• Erna Witoelar, United Nations Special Ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for Asia and the Pacific, whose talk will be on Where Does the Asia Pacific Region Stand in Achieving Water-Related MDGs?
• ADB Vice-President Geert van der Linden, who will talk on Making Watershed Changes - It Boils Down to Leadership; and
• Ravi Narayanan, Director of the charity, WaterAid, who will speak on behalf of nongovernment organizations (NGOs).

The closing remarks will come from ADB Vice-President Liqun Jin.

Water Week will also see the awarding of the second ADB Water Prize, presented by Mr. Chino, to a project agency within an ADB developing member country that has demonstrated good practices in innovative water financing and good governance on an ADB-financed project. Three ADB Water Achievement Awards and a Best Water Project Team will also be presented to ADB staff in recognition of their work in the water sector.

"Creativity and innovation in water sector policymaking is urgently needed if we are to achieve the MDGs of halving by 2015, the proportion of people without safe drinking water and basic sanitation," said Wouter Lincklaen Arriens, ADB's Lead Water Resources Specialist.

"Today in Asia, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water and a further one in two do not have adequate sanitation facilities. It is only by bringing together water experts from throughout Asia and asking the really tough questions that we can make progress. Why is it that after concerted efforts spanning decades, the poor still does not have access to safe water? Is there a conspiracy against the poor? Have conventional mindsets stymied progress in this direction? We look forward to a stimulating and action-oriented week."

ADB's Water Week takes place at ADB Headquarters in Manila. Session themes will include: Understanding Why the Poor Don't Get What They Need; Making Watershed Changes in Governance and Financing for the Poor; and Deciding on Water for the Poor: Conclusions on Better Practice.

Also attending Water Week will be the winners of the writing competition at two recent ADB National Journalist Workshops on Water Issues, which took place in Thailand and Viet Nam.