Water

Home : Sectors and Themes : Water : Partners : Partnerships : 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit

Main
Policy
Programs
Projects
Partners
Networks
Funding Facilities
Partnerships
Stories
Library
Contact Us


1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit
Water Security: Leadership and Commitment

3-4 December 2007; Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, Japan

The 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit (APWS) brought together leaders from government, private sector and civil society to recognize the significance of the water issues for achieving Millennium Development Goals. By addressing and engaging decision-makers at the highest levels, the 1st APWS sought to generate the support and commitment required to meet the region's water challenges.

This 1st APWS in Japan was organized by the Asia Pacific Water Forum (APWF), an informal network focusing on water financing and capacity development, disaster management, and water for development and ecosystems.

 
1ST ASIA-PACIFIC WATER SUMMIT
APWF Updates
  Summit Structure
  APWS Sessions
  Summit Highlights
  Steering Committee
  Participants
  Related News
  Related Links
  Contacts

The 1st APWS focused on the three priority themes of the APWF. The 2-day summit comprised several sessions organized by APWF partner institutions responsible for these priority themes.

Day Session Conveners Session Highlights
Day 1 Opening Ceremony APWF  
Water and Climate Panel: Climate Change, Glaciers, and Water in the Himalayan Region
  Draft Summary for the Chairperson* [PDF]
CEO Panel on Water: A Mandate for Action   Chair Summary* [PDF]
Monitoring of Investment and Results UNESCAP Key results Area 4 Summary for APWS Chair* [PDF]
Day 2 Regional Launching of the International Year of Sanitation    
Water and Climate Panel: The Small Islands' Dialogue on Water and Climate   Parallel Session for Priority Theme on Water–Related Disaster Management* [PDF]
Aral Sea Panel: Commitment for Ensuring Water Security in the Aral Sea Basin—Cooperation vs. Competition
  Draft Summary of the Aral Sea Panel session* [PDF]
Water-related Disaster Management ICHARM Draft Summary of Theme B session [PDF]
Water for Development and Ecosystems IUCN  
Leadership for Ensuring Water Security in the Asia-Pacific Region: Knowledge, Financing and Capacity Development
ADB, Singapore PUB, UNESCO, JBIC, JICA
 
Increasing Capacity for Local Actions
UNHABITAT, Streams of Knowledge
 
Closing Ceremony APWF Water for Development and Ecosystems* [PDF]

See the details of the full program.

Top

Ten heads of state, 31 ministers, and representatives from 36 countries committed to the following:
Recognize the people's right to safe drinking water and basic sanitation as a basic human right and a fundamental aspect of human security
Reduce by half the number of people who do not have access to safe drinking water by 2015 and aim to reduce that number to zero by 2025
Accord the highest priority to water and sanitation in economic and development plans and agendas and to increase substantially the allocation of resources to the water and sanitation sectors
Improve governance, efficiency, transparency and equity in all aspects related to the management of water, particularly as it impacts on poor communities. The leaders recognized that while women are particularly vulnerable, they are also resilient and entrepreneurial, hence, should be empowered in all water-related activities
Take urgent and effective action to prevent and reduce the risks of flood, drought and other water-related disasters and to bring timely relief and assistance to their victims
Support the region s vulnerable small island states in their efforts to protect lives and livelihoods from the impacts of climate change
Exhort the Bali Conference to take into account the relationship between water and climate change, such as the melting of snowcaps and glaciers in the Himalayas and rising sea levels, which are already having an impact on some countries in the region
Establish concrete goals for the 2008 Toyako G8 Summit to
commit to support the developing countries to achieve their MDG targets on water and sanitation
take immediate action to support adaptation to climate change by developing countries
Empower a high-level coordinating mechanism in their cabinets and where possible, appoint a
minister in charge of water to ensure that all issues related to water and sanitation would be dealt
with in a holistic manner
Respect and strengthen the region s rich history of water-centered community development,
including the rehabilitation of urban waterways and protection of the environmental integrity of rural
watersheds
Work together with other like-minded institutions, entities and individuals in order to achieve their
collective vision of water security in the Asia-Pacific region

For more information, read the Message from Beppu: Leaders' Declaration* [PDF] and Chair's Summary* [PDF].

Top

Launched at the event are the following key messages, recommendations, and concrete initiatives prepared by the APWF.

  Water Financing and Capacity Development      Water-Related Disaster Management      Water for Development and Ecosystems   

Key Messages and Recommendations

Water problems of developing countries are manageable
Give water and sanitation a higher priority on the national, regional, and international agendas
The principal challenges will not be technological—the hardware of water sector development—but rather the soft issues
More investment in the water resources sector is necessary to achieve MDG Targets in the Asia-Pacific. It is not a matter of possibility but a matter of willingness

Concrete Initiatives

Financing Water and Sanitation and Strengthening Capacity Development
Establishment of the regional water knowledge hubs on priority water topics [PDf]

Other initiatives launched at the Summit include:

Top


Institution

Name
Japan Water Forum Yoshiro Mori
Alpinist Ken Noguchi
Asian Development Bank (ADB) Haruhiko Kuroda
Bangladesh Water Partnership Quamrul Islam Siddique
China Hu Siyi
Executive Committee of International Fund for saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) Sulton Rahimov
Global Water Partnership (GWP) Margaret Catley-Carlson
Google Japan Inc. Norio Murakami
Governing Council of Asia-Pacific Water Forum / Ambassador-At-Large of Singapore Prof. Tommy Koh
Hokkaido University & the Open University of Japan / Director of Hokkaido Histrical
Museum
Norihito Tambo
Housewives Association Masae Wada
India Saif-ud-Din Soz
Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) Koji Tanami
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Ariyuki Matsumoto
Japan Medical Association Yoshihito Karasawa
Japanese Trade Union Confederation Masako Uemoto
Korea Water Forum Seung-Soo Han
New Zealand Mercedes Lentz
NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation Yoshinori Imai
Oita Prefecture Katsusada Hirose
Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) Cristelle Pratt

Top

APWS participants included representatives from the following countries and institutions.

[ Countries | Institutions ]

Countries

Republic of Armenia

Australia
Republic of Azerbaijan
Kingdom of Bhutan
Brunei Darussalam
Kingdom of Cambodia
People's Republic of China
Cook Islands
Republic of the Fiji Islands
India
Republic of Indonesia
Islamic Republic of Iran
Japan
Republic of Kazakhstan
Republic of Kiribati
Republic of Korea
Kyrgyz Republic
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Republic of the Marshall Islands
Federated States of Micronesia
Mongolia
Union of Myanmar
Republic of Nauru
Nepal
New Zealand
Niue
Republic of Palau
Independent State of Papua New Guinea
Republic of the Philippines
Independent State of Samoa
Republic of Singapore
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Republic of Tajikistan
Kingdom of Thailand
Tuvalu
Republic of Uzbekistan

Top

Title Date
Asia-Pacific water summit to be held next week to prevent crisis [PDF] 11/30/2007
4TH LD: 1st Asia-Pacific water summit opens to tackle water problems [PDF] 12/03/2007
Acting Vice Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan to participate in Water Summit in Japan [PDF] 11/30/2007
Vice Prime Minister Nur uulu Dosbol leaves for Japan to attend 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit [PDF] 11/30/2007

Top

Wouter on Water:
Messages from Beppu: Is Water Hotter Now?


*These links take you outside the ADB website. Please use the back button to return to ADB.org.