The 1st Asia-Pacific Water Summit will be
held on December 3-4, 2007 in Oita Prefecture, Japan. The Summit
will be organized as one of keystone activities of the Asia-Pacific
Water Forum (APWF), an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan,
non-political network dedicated to solving water problems in
the Asia-Pacific region.
The APWF was initially proposed by the participants of the 4th
World Water Forum’s Regional Preparatory Process under the coordination
of the Japan Water Forum (JWF). The establishment of the APWF
was officially announced by Mr. Ryutaro Hashimoto, former President
of Japan Water Forum, during the Asia-Pacific Day at the 4th
World Water Forum, Mexico City, March 2006. And on September
27, 2006 in Manila, the APWF was officially launched during
an elaborate ceremony attended by over 160 water stakeholders
from the region.
The goal of the APWF is to contribute to sustainable water management
in order to achieve the targets of the MDGs in Asia and the
Pacific by capitalizing on the region’s diversity and rich history
of experience in dealing with water as a fundamental part of
human existence. Specifically, the APWF champions efforts aimed
at boosting investments, building capacity, and enhancing cooperation
in the water sector at the regional level and beyond.
The Asia-Pacific Water Summits, to be organized every two or
three years, shall target top-level policy and decision-makers
beyond the water sector, such as heads of the government and
ministers of finance and planning, as well as leaders from the
private sector, local governments, civil society and the media.
The Summits will create incentives for these leaders to showcase
tangible water sector results in their respective countries,
as reflected by increased water investments, adoption and implementation
of strategic reforms, improved water governance at all levels,
and significant progress in reaching the MDGs. Furthermore,
the Governing Council of the APWF will report on the key findings
from the APWF process (from the different Key Result Areas,
Priority Themes, and Sub-Regional results) to the top-level
leaders at the Summit.
Participation in the Summits will be by invitation only, and
the official invitation letters to the leaders of the 47 countries
of the Asia-Pacific region will be sent via the Embassies in
Japan early next year.
» First Annoucement
of ASIA-PACIFIC WATER SUMMIT (PDF:14KB)
|
