The 7th World Water Forum ends its 6-day journey started on April 12
April 19, 2015
The 7th World Water Forum with its slogan of Water for Our Future ends its 6-day journey started on April 12. At the closing ceremony held from 14:00 at Convention Hall A on the 5th floor of EXCO on April 17, around 700 attendees including Jung-moo Lee, Chairman of the National Committee for the 7th World Water Forum, Benedito Braga, President of the World Water Council, Young-jin Kwon, Mayor of Daegu Metropolitan city, Kwan-yong Kim, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do province, Soontak Lee, Co-chair of the International Steering Committee, the delegation from Brazil, the host of the next World Water Forum, water experts, businesses, and citizens participated.
The closing ceremony included prize awarding ceremonies of the Kyoto World Water Grand Prize, Mexico Water Prize, and Daegu & Gyeongbuk Water Prize. During the Daegu & Gyeongbuk Water Prize ceremony, winners of the Water Showcase and World Water Challenge World Final, which focused on collecting excellent implementation cases from the world and innovative scientific and technological solutions to water challenges, received a trophy and a grant of KRW 3,0000,000 (approx. USD 27,680).
* Winners of the Daegu & Gyeongbuk Water Prize:
- Kanupriya Harish of India, Water Showcase laureate (rainwater harvesting to provide drinking water in a desert area in India) / Gyeongbuk Governor awarded the prize
- Ricardo Alba of Colombia, World Water Challenge World Final laureate (a rainwater collector made of plastic bottles) / Daegu Mayor awarded the prize
One of the key achievements of the 7th Forum is the announcement of Daegu & Gyeongbuk Implementation Commitment (DGIC). It expresses a strong will of 20 representative Korean and international organizations in the water sector to commit to implementation of the Implementation Roadmaps (IRs) drawn from discussions throughout the 7th Forum. With the announcement of the DGIC, this edition of the World Water Forum will serve to be a platform for commitment to put various ideas shared during the week into action, becoming a new turning point in addressing water challenges around the world. An annual meeting to review the status of IRs will also be held in order to strengthen networks among water-related organizations and participating countries, which were established during the Forum week.
In his remarks, Benedito Braga, President of the World Water Council said, “The pledges made during the 7th Forum will be carried to New York as a major contribution to the adoption of a Sustainable Development Goal on water. A Clear commitment has emerged from this week: to carry forward an agenda for action that will send a clear signal to the world: we know what needs to be done and we are getting on with the job. I would like to thank all who travelled to Korea this week and contributed to the most successful World Water Forum ever.”
Jung-moo Lee, Chairman of the National Committee for the 7th World Water Forum said that the 7th Forum opened a new chapter of implementing solutions drawn from previous editions of the Forum. He also added that Korea’s status in the global water sector has further elevated, and the global community should put more efforts and investment into tackling water-related problems world-wide.
Mayor of Daegu and Governor of Gyeongbuk handed the World Water Forum flag over to the Brazilian delegation. The nation will host the next World Water Forum in Brasilia in 2018. Through his video message, Rodrigo Rollemberg, Governor of Brasilia, expressed his will to successfully host the 8th World Water Forum.
Attended by Heads of States, ministers and vice ministers, international organizations, academia, businesses, and citizens, the 7th World Water Forum had around 400 sessions of the four Processes (Thematic, Political, Regional, and Science & Technology), the Citizen’s Forum, the Expo & Fair, side events and various cultural events, the record number in its history.
1. Political Process
- The Ministerial Process of the Political Process, attended by ministers and vice ministers from 120 countries, announced the Ministerial Declaration which reaffirms that water is the key for sustainable development and supports water goals and related targets to be included in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be adopted later this year. The Political Process consists of three sub-Processes: the Ministerial, Parliamentarian, and Local & Regional Authorities Processes. The achievement of this Process was heightened awareness about water challenges among policy makers and support for policy legislation related to water and its enactment.
- The Parliamentarian Process was attended by 71 parliamentarians from 27 countries. Discussions revolved around climate change, governance, human rights, legislation and others. Participants to this Process adopted the Parliamentarian Statement which highlights the roles of parliamentarians in legislating water-related laws, allocating funds and others to resolve water-related issues.
- At the Local & Regional Authorities Process, 260 attendees from 96 local and regional authorities of 26 countries, international organizations, and civil society organizations discussed various implementation measures to tackle water challenges at local and regional levels and adopted the Daegu & Gyeongbuk Water Action for Sustainable Cities and Region.
2. Thematic Process
- As the backbone of the World Water Forum, various stakeholders participating at the Thematic Process with 135 sessions under 16 overarching themes discussed a wide-range of issues such as climate change, disasters, and green growth.
- The Water Showcase, a special program for the Process, selected four best cases from nine finalists, which were chosen from 115 solution cases. This special program provided opportunities to share and exchange innovative and creative examples and experiences in diverse sectors to all stakeholders around the world.
3. Science & Technology Process
- As a newly introduced Process, the Science & Technology Process with 38 sessions stressed the importance of science and technology in solving water challenges and discussed technologies applicable to each country’s environment.
- 19 CEOs of leading water companies such as Veolia and SUEZ, and other international enterprises like Nestle and Coca-Cola engaged in the CEO Innovation Panel to build a cooperation network of various stakeholders related to water, suggest future visions of CEOs in the global water industry, and set a direction of innovation in the water sector.
- Through the World Water Challenge, a special program of this Process, 35 water challenges from 17 countries were defined and nine excellent solutions were selected out of 78 solutions from 22 countries. For the first time in the Forum’s history, the White Paper on the water science and technology was published.
4. Regional Process
With 28 sessions under seven regions, the Regional Process newly launched the Economically Water Insecure (EWI) region to tackle water challenges in underdeveloped countries, which have abundant water resources but suffer water shortages due to lack of infrastructure development. Each region’s joint cooperation in response to global water problems will be more active.
5. Citizen’s Forum
- The Citizen’s Forum had diverse programs such as sessions, exhibitions and a film festival under various themes including youth, women, water and ethics, and governance.
6. The Expo & Fair
- It was held during the Forum week provided lots of networking opportunities such as the Water Business Forum.
- Many debates, discussions, and presentations were held at national pavilions and other spaces, which were used for networking and business.
During the Forum week, the total of 18 memoranda of understanding (including letters of intent) were signed by ministries (MOLIT, ME, etc.), local governments (Daegu and Gyeongbuk), and public corporations (K-water, etc.), and 48 bilateral and multilateral meetings were held, which implies that the Forum facilitated cooperation in the water sector.
Chairman Lee emphasized that the year 2015 is highly critical because the UN MDGs will expire while the SDGs, which will propose the future direction of development for the next 15 years, will be adopted, and at the same time, the COP21 will take place. He also added that the 7th World Water Forum will put water high on the international agenda by suggesting solutions to global water challenges.
Source: http://www.worldwaterforum7.org
