World Water Day 2011 - Urban Water Management: Key Issues and Priorities for Action

8:00 a.m. (BST) / 3:00 a.m. (EDT) 7th September 2010

Presenters

Bert Diphoorn & Graham Alabaster - UN-HABITAT, Zafar Adeel - UN-Water, Alberto Tejada-Guibert & Sarantuyaa Zandaryaa - UNESCO, Thomas Chiramba - UNEP, Javier Mateo-Sagasta - FAO, Carlos R. Carrión-Crespo - ILO, Jan-Peter Mund - UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development and others.

Description

This seminar will be streamed live from World Water Week in Stockholm.

The World Water Day in 2011 is intended to focus international attention on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and climate change on water resources and environmental protection capabilities of cities and small towns. Key issues such as the growing urban water and sanitation demand, increased pollution from municipal and industrial discharges, climate change and its unforeseen risks and challenges, overexploitation of available water resources, better targeting of the urban poor will be discussed. The critical role played by local governments and other service providers in tackling these challenges will be explored.

The objective of the Seminar is to highlight key urban water management issues and priorities for action based on the diverse experience of UN-Water members. The Seminar will raise the profile of urban water management by presenting the current challenges, achievements and future prospects in the face of climate change-related risks and uncertainties.

It is envisaged that the conclusions of this Seminar will form the basis of the campaigns for the World Water Day 2011 by encouraging governments, organizations, communities, and individuals around the world to actively engage in addressing the water and sanitation challenges facing many cities and small towns, especially in the developing countries.

Programme

Chair: Mr. Bert Diphoorn, Director, Human Settlements Financing Division, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi, Kenya

09:00 - Welcome and introduction. Dr. Zafar Adeel, Chair, UN-Water, New YorkChair, Mr. Bert Diphoorn, UN-HABITAT

09:10 - Urbanization and water management - trends, challenges and perspectives. Dr. Graham Alabaster, Chief, Section I, Water, Sanitation and Infrastructure Branch, UN-HABITAT, Nairobi, Kenya

09:25 - Strategies for integrated urban water management in cities of developing countries.Mr. Alberto Tejada-Guibert, Director a.i., Division of Water Sciences, UNESCO, and Dr. Sarantuyaa Zandaryaa, Programme Specialist, UNESCO, Paris, France

09:40 - Managing the ecological footprint of urban water. Dr. Thomas Chiramba, Head of the Freshwater Ecosystems Unit, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya

09:55 - Urban water management and agriculture. Mr. Javier Mateo-Sagasta, Associate Professional Officer (Water Quality and Environmental Aspects of Irrigation), FAO, Rome, Italy

10:10 - Social dialogue and utility participatory governance as a tool to ensure sustainability of water policy reforms. Mr. Carlos R. Carrión-Crespo, Sectoral Specialist for public services and utilities, Sectoral Activities Department, ILO, Geneva, Switzerland

10:30 - Coffee Break

11:00 - Capacities for Mega-Cities coping with water scarcity. Dr. Jan-Peter Mund, Programme Officer, UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Development (UNW-DPC), Bonn, Germany

11:15 - The role of learning alliances in urban water management. Mr. John Butterworth, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (on behalf of the joint SWITCH/UNW-DPAC 'Sustainable Water Management in Cities' event), Delft, The Netherlands

11:30 - Questions and Answers

11:40 - Panel Debate: Key messages for the World Water Day 2011

Panelists:

• Dr. Shehu Yahaya, Executive Director, African Development Bank, Tunis, Tunisia (tbc)
• Mr. Gérard Payen, UNSGAB, France (tbc)
• Mr. Piers Cross, Sanitation and Water for All secretariat
• Dr. Margaret Catley-Carlson, Patron, Global Water Partnership and Member of UNSGAB
• Prof. Karl-Ulrich Rudolph, Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, University of Witten-Herdecke, Germany

12:15 - Plenary discussion on key issues arising from the debate

12:25 - Wrap-Up and Summary of Main Issues. Mr. Bert Diphoorn, UN-HABITAT

12:30 - Close of Seminar

Fore more information, please contact Izabela Stacewicz

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