Speaking at a reception he hosted at the Elysée in Paris for delegates attending a prelude meeting of the 6th World Water Forum, the president expressed his concerns about water issues which could be worsened by the issues such as population growth, environmental pollution, and climate change. The prelude meeting was organized between 3-4 June in Marseille with the participation of 400 water stakeholders from all over the world to launch the preparatory process for the 6th World Water Forum to be held in Marseille in March 2012. During the meeting, the significance of "building on the outcomes from the 5th World Water Forum of Istanbul and other recognised international processes" was stressed. Another important thing to mention is that the 6th World Water Forum is to focus on the "solutions" by identifying targets for a certain number of priority issues. UNHABITAT participated in the meeting as a member of the Board of Governors of the World Water Council and the International Forum Committee of the 6th World Water Forum. At the plenary discussion, "water and urbanisation" was mentioned as an important crosscutting theme. At the ensuing breakout session, the discussion was made to identify the issues, targets, solutions and stakeholders under this theme. The issues identified in this process include; performance of utilities; wastewater management; rural-urban migration; population growth; and climate change – adaptation and mitigation. For the details of the outcome of the meeting, please visit http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/index.php?id=6th_forum_kick-off&L=0%22onfo%20title%3D%20target%3D. |
