Dec
9
Report: Water Forum for the Americas/Foro del Agua de las Americas
December 9, 2009 | Posted by Michael "Aquadoc" Campana
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A few weeks ago I reported that I’d be heading to Costa Rica on a brief, three-day trip for a meeting to discuss the Water Forum for the Americas (WFA, or FAM in Spanish). About 70 of us met at the Radisson in San José on 30 November – 1 December and had a fruitful discussion. Ken Reid and I represented AWRA.
The meeting’s objectives:
1) strenghten the mobilization process initiated on the occasion of the Fifth World Water Forum and work towards the Sixth World Water Forum (6WWF; March 2012 in Marseille, France);
2) continue to build momentum and promote the water agenda at the policy level; and
3) support regional initiatives that promote the global water policy recommendations.
The conveners – Roberto Olivares (from ANEAS in Mexico), Maureen Ballestero Vargas (Vice President of the Legislative Assembly in Costa Rica), and Bendito (Ben) Braga (of ANA in Brazil) – would like to see the Americas ‘have their act together’ at 6 WWF in Marseille. Previous WWFs saw the Americas not as well organized as the other regions. So we’d like to have an ‘Americas consensus’ of sorts for 6WWF.
The WFA will establish a work agenda for the next two years. We agreed that we wanted the WFA to be a loose-knit organization without a strict, hierarchical structure (president, vice president, etc.). To that end, ANA, the Brazilian national water agency, agreed to function as the WFA Secretariat.
Executive Secretariat – Water Forum of the Americas
Phone: +55-61-2109-5169/5170/5534
Fax: +55-61-2109-5227
Email: wfa@ana.gov.br
Here is the press release in Spanish and English (run through a translator).
Download WFA_FAM_Press_Release_1 Dec 2009
Here are the documents describing the consensus we reached on the WFA/FAM. The text was modified from a proposal presented by Roberto Olivares, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude.
Download Water_Forum_of_the_Americas_1Dec2009
Download Foro_del_Agua_de_las_Americas_1dic2009
For reference, below are copies (English, Spanish, Portuguese) of the WFA Iguassu Falls message, which was sent to the 5WWF participants.
Download Message_of_Foz_do_Iguassu
Download Mensaje_de_Foz_do_Iguazu
Download Mensagem_de_Foz_do_Iguaçu
Now the work begins – planning meetings, establishing work groups, etc. But for me, it’ll be a labor of love. I look forward to it.
I especially want to thank Ing. Maureen Ballestero Vargas for serving as hostess and main organizer. And Ben Braga, Director of ANA, did a remarkable job as meeting chair and did much to forge a consensus. Marie-Violaine Chabrel of ANA did yeoman duty before and throughout the meeting.
An added bonus: I delighted in seeing our three SUSIE participants from Costa Rica: , Gloriana Araya, Esteban Lobo Perez, and Marilyn Manrow Villalobos.
Looks like I’ll be getting more Spanish practice in the coming months.
“Between the beginning and the end there is always a middle.” – Brazilian proverb
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