UN-Water

Recognizing progress, taking action for the future we want

(Please note that this is a full day event)



UN-Water is the United Nations inter-agency coordination mechanism for all freshwater related issues. Building on a long history of inter-agency coordination, UN-Water was established in 2003 to facilitate synergies and joint efforts among UN entities in the area of water. UN-Water seeks to: promote coherent actions of the UN System on water issues, especially at country level; contribute to the global policy debate on water issues; contribute to the knowledge base on water and serve as an entry point for water-related indicators, data and information; and identify emerging issues and provide a platform for strategic discussion on how to prepare for and cope with them more effectively.



The objectives of the Water Day are:

1. To demonstrate to the broad range of stakeholders, particularly decision makers, that some of the major challenges facing humanity today are water related.

2. To identify major water issues connecting with the themes of the Rio+20 Conference.

3. To focus on the means of implementation, particularly focusing on the action areas where the United Nations can act together through UN-Water.



The Water Day will bring the UN-Water contribution to the Rio+20 Conference, building on the UN-Water Statement for the Rio+20 Conference submitted to the Rio+20 Secretariat in November 2011 and on the UN-Water Deliverables for Rio+20 submitted in March 2012 through the United Nations High Level Committee on Programmes.



At the Water Day UN-Water will release its Report on Water Resources Management, specifically produced for Rio+20, and it will engage in high level panel discussions on the relevance of water in the Rio+20 outcomes and beyond, and on the role of the human right to water and to sanitation. Finally, 2013 the International Year of Water Cooperation will be introduced, as a first concrete step to follow on the Rio+20 outcomes.

17.30-19.30 – Session 3:

Water and Sanitation as a Human Right

17.30-17.35 Opening
Jack Moss, Senior Advisor, Aquafed

17:35-17:40 Video message
Catarina de Albuquerque, Special Rapporteur on the human right to water and to sanitation

17.40-17:50 Keynote address
Olcay Unver, Director, United Nations World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)

17:50-18:50 Panel discussion and Q&A with the audience
Moderator: Archana Patkar, Programme Manager, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)
Panellists (short statements followed by discussion):
H.E. Evo Morales, President of Bolivia
H.E. Svandis Svavarsdottir, Minister of Environment, Iceland
Martin Dahinden, Director General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
Anil Naidoo, Coordinator, Blue Planet Project
Esther de Jong, Deputy Director, Gender and Water Alliance (GWA)
Andre Dzikus, Chief of Water and Sanitation, UN-HABITAT
Private sector representative (to be confirmed)

18:50-19:00 Wrap-up and closing remarks
Jack Moss, Senior Advisor, Aquafed

19:00-19:30: Break

19.30-21.00 - Session 4:

2013 International Year of Water Cooperation:
Building peace and development through water cooperation

19:30-19:40 Welcome address
Gretchen Kalonji, Assistant Director General for Natural Sciences, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

19:40-19:45 High-level address
Sven Alkalaj, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

19:45-19:55 Film projection
Participatory approaches in Brazil, an example from AguaBoa

19:55-20:50 Panel discussion and Q&A with the audience
Water cooperation in action: testimony and commitments
Chair: Irina Bokova, Director General, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Moderator: Johan Kuylenstierna, Executive Director, Stockholm Environment Institute
Panellists (short statements followed by discussion):
Jean-Francois Donzier, Permanent Technical Secretary, International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO)
Le Duc Trung, Mekong River Commission Secretariat
Nelton Miguel Friedrich, Director, Coordination and Environment, AguaBoa
Lasse Gustavsson, Executive Director, WWF International
Karin Lexén, Director, Swedish Water House initiative at SIWI, Chair of the Swedish IHP Committee
Ivan Zavadsky, Senior Water Resources Management Specialist, Global Environment Facility (GEF)

20:50-20:55 High-level message: "From Dushanbe 2011 to Dushanbe 2013"
H.E. Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan

20:55-21:00 Wrap-up and closing remarks
Michel Jarraud, Chair, UN-Water