3rd World Water Forum: Water in Small Island Countries
The economic and social well being of small island countries, particularly those in the Pacific, are highly interlinked with the quality and quantity of their water resources.
The countries’ ability to effectively manage water is often constrained by their size and limited administrative capability. In many, trends such as rising seawater levels, increasingly variable rainfall, accelerating storm water runoff, increasing demand for water, and increasing pollution of surface, ground and sea water are so potentially disturbing that they threaten the development of their economies and the health of their people.
In acknowledgment of this vulnerability and the particular needs of small island
countries, the 3rd World Water Forum Secretariat requested the Asian Development
Bank to spearhead the preparations for the Water in Small Island Countries theme
for the 3rd World Water
Forum.
ADB, in collaboration with various partners, undertook extensive research and consultation for the Water in Small Island Countries Theme at the Forum.
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- Obtain global recognition of the problems faced by the small island countries (SICs)
- Increase collaboration within and between SIC regions
- Finalize a global SICs position statement and agree on a portfolio of priority water actions
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To provide a structure for the work under the theme, the collaborators identified six thematic areas based on a needs assessment of the region. These are:
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The wide range of active collaborators for the theme sessions included
ADB and partners worked to promote actions within and between small island countries in Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean.
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The following important documents and agreements resulted from the national
and regional consultations
undertaken in preparation for the Forum:
- Regional
Action Plan for Sustainable Water Management - the plan is structured
around the 6 thematic areas. Each theme consists of key messages to stakeholders
and corresponding actions required to attain them.
- Communiqué
and Ministerial Declaration - the Communiqué recognized the unique geographic
and physical characteristics, as well as the fragile nature of water resources
in small and vulnerable island countries. It also promoted the action plan
for sustainable water management in the Pacific and made a commitment to the
sustainable water management components of Agenda 21 and the Global Action
Plan for Small Island Developing States. The Ministerial Declaration referred
to the Communiqué that has been signed by 14 Ministers and Secretaries of
State as of 21 February 2003.
- Type II Initiative - this focuses on attaining sustainable water and wastewater management in the Pacific through the
- Establishment of a regional water network of persons and organizations that work in the different fields of water resources management and service delivery
- Implementation of Strategies for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
- Implementation of the Regional
Action Plan for Sustainable Water Management
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The delegates to the sessions agreed on the following:
- Recognition that
- Small island countries have uniquely fragile water resources due to their
small size, competing land use, vulnerability to natural and anthropogenic
hazards, including drought, cyclones and urban pollution
- Water services face constraints to sustaining water and wastewater management,
due to the lack of resources and investment opportunities, and effectiveness
of cost-recovery mechanisms
- Water governance is highly complex due to the specific socio-political
and cultural factors relating to traditional community, tribal and inter-island
practices, rights and interests.
- Affirmation of commitments to the following
- Support for the Pacific
Regional Action Plan on Sustainable Water Management
- Recommendations for action
- Strengthen national capacity for water management through use of the Pacific and Caribbean Hydrological Cycle Observation System (HYCOS) proposals
- Strengthen water quality monitoring and improvement programs
- Establish water demand management and water loss reduction programs
- Implement programs for improved governance at both the national and utility levels
- Strengthen inter- and intra-regional partnerships on education, awareness and advocacy
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| Session |
Date |
Time |
Room |
Contact |
|---|
| Opening Session: Vulnerability and Small Islands (under Dialogue on Water and Climate) |
16 March 2003 |
12:30 - 14:30 |
Main Hall
Kyoto International Conference Hall
(KICH) |
Jeffry Stubbs
jstubbs@adb.org |
| Water in Small Island Countries |
16 March 2003 |
15:00-19:30 |
Rm. C-1
KICH |
Jeffry Stubbs
jstubbs@adb.org
Sarah Mecartney
smecartney@adb.org
Marc Overmars
marc@sopac.org.fj
|
| Asia Pacific Day |
18 March 2003 |
09:30-11:00 |
Prince Hall
Takaragaike
Prince Hotel
(TPH) |
Samoa Water Authority
Latu Kupa |
| Preparation for Ministers Briefing |
19 March 2003 |
tba |
tba |
Jeffry Stubbs
jstubbs@adb.org |
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