4th World Water Forum Mexico 2006
The water and sanitation sector meets every three years at the World Water Forum. WECF took part in Kyoto in 2003 and Mexico City in 2005. It is preparing for Istanbul 2009.
| Country: | International |
| Donors / Program: | Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Developing Cooperation, TMF programme |
| WECF Partners: | Women for Water, Wedo, IUCN and Gender-Water Alliance |
| Issues: | Water & Sanitation |
| Duration: | 01/2006 - 12/2006 |
The world Water Forum allows WECF members to present their experiences and policy recommendations to global decision makers from businesses and governments.
Background
The World Water Forum, set up by the World Water Council, is organised every three years in close collaboration with the authorities of the hosting country and is the largest international event in the field of water. It serves four main purposes:- To raise the importance of water on the political agenda
- To support the deepening of discussions towards the solution of international water issues in the 21st century
- To formulate concrete proposals and bring their importance to the world's attention
- To generate political commitment
WECF goals
WECF, through its projects, activities, research and network, supports the goals of the World Water Forum and the World Water Council. WECF uses ecological sanitation (ecosan) as a central part of its work to help rural communities and households to access safe water and healthy sanitation. Much of the work takes place in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus.WECF implementation
Women for Water (WfWfW), of which WECF is a member, organised an international Working Conference from March 12-15, 2006 in Mexico City. Women's organisations from all over the world came together to work out sustainable solutions for access to safe and sufficient water and sanitation. Among the countries present were Afghanistan, Armenia, Bulgaria, Colombia, Chile, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Romania, Sri Lanka, Uganda, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Lesotho and Zambia.The Working Conference, which took place just a couple of days before the 4th World Water Forum, resulted in useful ideas and inputs for the women’s sessions during the actual Forum.
Participants of the WfWfW Working Conference were invited to visit two Mexican towns with ongoing ecological sanitation projects. Both towns are located close to Mexico City. The visitors got a guided tour of the infrastructure by the local women's group. See picture below.
The first session took place on March 19, during the day on "Water and Sanitation". WECF presented successfull local actions on ecological sanitation in schools in the Ukraine, Romania, Armenia and Bulgaria, as well as successful local actions on financing water supply in Bolivia and Mexico. The session title was “Access to safe water and ecological sanitation for rural areas. Good practice in Latin America and Eastern Europe from a gender perspective.”
The second session took place on March 21, during the "Risk Management" day and addressed the issue of providing affordable water and sanitation in conflict areas and ecological hotspots, such as Afghanistan, the Aral Sea region, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan. The title was “Managing safe drinking water in areas of armed conflict and ecological disaster from a gender perspectives: learning from local actions in Central Asia and Latin America.”
Both sessions took place in rooms with a capacity of 250 persons. The high interest and attendance filled the rooms completely.
WECF brought a delegation of women from the European Union and the EECCA countries to present their local solutions and activities while Women for Water invited a group of women from other parts of the world to focus on their activities during the Forum.
Women for Water and WECF set up a coalition with other women's organisations taking part in the the WWF-4 and together they organised an exhibition stand and daily women's caucus meetings. Here, WECF members had the chance to get in contact with the Forum participants and inform about their organisations and projects.
At least four interviews were given to Mexican radio stations interested in gender issues; Gisela Herrerias (Alternativas y Procesos de Participación Social), Aurora Ramirez and Petra Peña (Centro de Mujeres Tonantzin), and Sascha Gabizon (WECF) were interviewed.
A press conference was also held and many publications were distributed among the participants during the WECF and WfWfW sessions.
Two documentaries were shown during the 4th World Water Forum
“No Drinking Water“ – A film about women’s struggle for access to safe drinking water in Romania, Ukraine and Sri Lanka.
“ The Aral Sea – Where the Water Ends, the World Ends." A documentary on the communities of the Aral Sea region and their struggle for health and survival.
Facts related to the participation of WECF members were published in different Mexican and internationally written and electronic media.
