Asia - Pacific
Water Forum

APPROACH

The approach of the APWF’s network organization will be to add value to the ongoing work of organizations and initiatives in the water sector in terms of investment, optimizing implementation arrangements, achieving economies of scale, and developing unified approaches to water policies and programs.  It will be inclusive, open and flexible, with a very light governance superstructure and an optimal delegation of responsibility to the contributing member organizations for the delivery of agreed products and services of high quality and practical value.

The Regional Document prepared for the 4^th World Water Forum identified three Priority Themes common across the Asia-Pacific region.  Adopting strategies and initiating actions needed to address these themes will be the main focus of APWF activities leading up to the 1^st Asia-Pacific Water Summit.

The actions required to make progress under each of the Priority Themes have been divided into five categories, or “Key Result Areas“ (KRAs).  APWF will provide top-quality and user-friendly network coordination services, including a first-class interactive website, to showcase activities and results in each of the KRAs and to facilitate the necessary linkages among the KRAs as they relate to the Priority Themes.

Priority Themes

The Regional Preparatory Process for the 4th World Water Forum lead to the identification of issues and challenges common to the Asia-Pacific region.  These are detailed in the Region Document[1], in which the regions’ participants collectively identified targets for three Priority Themes: 1) Water financing, 2) Disaster management, and 3) Water for development and ecosystems.  Each of these is summarized below.

Achieving progress under each of the Priority Themes will be the driving force behind APWF’s activities, as these will provide direction for the KRAs.  Progress made towards each of the Targets will to be presented at the Asia-Pacific Water Summit in 2007, along with a roadmap for the way forward.

Table 1            Targets to be achieved under each Priority Theme

1. Water Financing

To increase targeted investments for water and sanitation infrastructure and for human resources development…

With several of its countries in transitional economies, the Asia-Pacific region is expecting unprecedented economic development over the coming decades.  When combined with population growth, the development of emerging national economies is likely to increase pressure on already stressed water resources.  However, if supported by the necessary political will and institutional frameworks, this anticipated growth can provide opportunities for financing water related infrastructure and human capacity development. 

In lesser developed countries where the need for new infrastructure is greatest, additional investments will be required in education to improve operation and maintenance, and in further improvement of existing infrastructures.  Furthermore, investments in new infrastructure should be combined with increased investments in education in order to enable people to use the new infrastructure at full value.

As a result, existing funding sources will need to be expanded and greater efforts will be required to attract new sources and to develop innovative financial mechanisms.  Therefore, priority should be given to programs that invest in capacity development for people and institutions and build self-reliance. 

2. Disaster Management

To drastically reduce the vulnerability of human populations to water-related disasters…

Between 2001 and 2005, an average of 62,273 people were killed annually by water related disasters in the Asia-Pacific region, and vulnerability to water-related disasters remains high across the region, from flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas to monsoon-related flooding in deltas. The plea from the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015[2], to halve the number of deaths caused by water-related disasters, could be considered as a target for the region.

Enhancing preparedness, through better early warning systems, strengthening regional co-operation, increased awareness and community involvement throughout the region are central to addressing this Priority Theme.  The increasing risks that climate change poses on the ever-growing regional populations, especially in coastal urban areas, make action all the more urgent.  Furthermore, small island states, especially in the Pacific, are highly vulnerable to climate extremes and overall climate variability.  Pre-emptive efforts are needed to build resilience within communities and protect the livelihoods of the most vulnerable, especially women and children.

Structural measures are not always infallible, and when extreme events exceed the design criteria of the structures, human casualties remain probable.  Therefore, the APWF will look beyond coping with the hazard and also pay attention to reducing vulnerability.  And the key to reducing vulnerability lies in increasing preparedness through pre-emptive activities: early warning systems, raising awareness and evacuation planning. 

3. Water for Development & Ecosystems

To conserve and restore land-water interfaces for the improvement of water productivity…

Healthy aquatic ecosystems provide tangible economic and social benefits.  Protecting zones at the land-water interface like mangroves, paddy fields, wetlands, and forests not only increases ecosystem health, but may also provide extra protection against some disasters and saline intrusion, help groundwater recharge, and improve overall quality of life.

In the Asia-Pacific region, the importance of “natural water” as part of the environment has been embraced by many cultures throughout history.  Unfortunately, through the course of modernization, far too many water courses have been dramatically “denaturalized”.  Surface water restoration is not only good for the environment and the integrity of the water resources themselves, it can have tangible social benefits as well, from reducing flood vulnerability to increasing the overall quality of life of all the people who live in or frequent the area by providing them with new areas of natural beauty for recreation and relaxation.

Key Result Areas

In order to meet its objectives, APWF will focus on five Key Result Areas (KRAs), each of which encompasses a specific set of distinct approaches and related activities.  The KRAs are essentially the means through which the APWF will achieve progress under the Priority Themes.

Table 2            Main activities related to each of the KRAs.

1. Developing knowledge and lessons

APWF will recognize and strengthen a network of knowledge hubs in the region to do basic and applied research, capacity development, and training in addressing key issues in water services and water resources management.

The knowledge hubs will deliver knowledge-based products and services that meet the short-term practical needs of water organizations like utilities and river basin organizations, and also strategic policy oriented studies on water management in the region to inform ministries and planning agencies in the medium to long term.

APWF will arrange for collaboration between selected knowledge hubs to produce high-quality analyses of experiences in the region on a small number of high-priority complex topics.  The results and recommendations from such analyses will be targeted to inform governments, private sector, civil society, and water sector organizations in their project planning and implementation.

The network’s knowledge hubs will work autonomously, guided by a set of simple operating principles for accreditation and quality assurance as agreed under the APWF framework.  In turn, APWF will seek to expand the network of existing institutions in priority areas.

APWF will generate and disseminate a menu of options for water policies and practices to governments in the region, based on a compilation of national water policies, strategies for rural and urban water services and for water resources management in river basins, and an analysis of experiences in implementing these policies in countries of the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.  Policies for specific issues, such as cost recovery, water rights, and a selection of projects and technologies could also be included.  It is hoped that multilateral and bilateral institutions and networks will support this selected programmes under this KRA.

2. Increasing local capacity

APWF will generate opportunities for experience sharing and peer learning between mayors and other local government leaders in order to improve water services and water resource management.

APWF will seek to involve civil society organizations as partners in the water sector, including parliamentarians, knowledge institutions, development and advocacy NGOs, and community organizations.  The goal will be to help such organizations become more effective in advocating and catalyzing water reforms, supporting effective multi-stakeholder platforms, and in improving the quality of project preparation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.  Selected examples of good practice in leadership and in achieving results will be presented at the Asia-Pacific Water Summits, and several prizes can be considered to recognize excellence and disseminate such experiences.

3. Increasing public outreach

APWF will encourage advocacy campaigns and advertisements in mass media to increase public awareness and understanding of key water trends, issues, and solutions.  Target audiences will include national and local governments, national and regional partnerships, local practitioners and civil society.  Journalists will also be supported through networking activities.

4. Monitoring investments and results

APWF will systematically and thoroughly improve and expand the monitoring of water sector performance and results in the region.  This will include monitoring of key results with agreed indicators, such as: investments in rural, urban, and basin water projects by governments, the private sector and through ODA; sector reforms, sector outputs and impacts, including progress in achieving the MDGs; and other important water trends.

5. Supporting Forum and Summit

APWF will provide top-quality and user-friendly network coordination services including a first-class interactive website to showcase activities and results in each of the key result areas, and to provide the necessary linkages between them, supported by sound analysis and advice.  For example, a knowledge product from KRA 1 may lead policy advice in KRA 2 and an advocacy campaign in KRA 3, and much of the APWF’s added value will result from the creation of such linkages.  Added to this may be a facilitation service for fundraising and management to supplement resources needed by network members to deliver their products and services.