The French Water Partnership

Transcription

1 The French Water Partnership Nathalie CHARTIER-TOUZE, General Delegate NowNet Information Platform September 5th 2010, Stockholm

2 What s the FWP? The French Water Partnership (FWP) was created on 22 March 2007, on the occasion of World Water Day and following the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City in 2006 It is a debate and discussion forum for all the French water stakeholders operating in the international arena Its main goal is to help to meet the global challenge of water and sanitation for all in the 21st century, in particular the Millennium Development Goals. It helps to ensure that water is on the international agenda and maintains a political decision-making focus on waterrelated issues

3 The members of FWP The PFE brings together the French water stakeholders active on the international stage : Ministries, NGOs, local authorities, companies, river authorities and scientific and technical organisations. It currently has about 110 members. Associations, NGOs and Foundations State Scientific and Technical organizations Private companies Public organizations, Water Agencies and River Basin organizations Local authorities & National associations of elected representatives

4 Mandate The FWP coordinates the deliberations and debates of its members in order to define common positions which are then disseminated to the international community. It promotes their know-how and innovations at international and European events, forums and networks. It offers contributions to the French Government's representatives in charge of discussions concerning water policy within European and inter-governmental institutions.

5 Governance The FWP has a Charter laying down its governance and its principles of action: General Assembly every year Board of 26 elected members among each of the 6 colleges Bureau of the Board of 8 members President: M. Jean-Michel SEVERINO, the Former general Director of the French development Agency Executive Secretariat headed by N. Chartier-Touzé 3 years action programme, focused on the next WWF6 in France and other international events Public and private voluntary funding Functioning rules lie on participation and consensus (no one category of members should take precedence over another).

6 FWP s main messages The FWP s members aim is to propose solutions and make recommendations to address four crucial issues: 1. Sanitation in the mega-cities: defusing the sanitation time bomb. More than 900 million people still have no access to drinking water and 2.5 billion still have no access to sanitation. Unsafe water is the primary cause of mortality around the world and kills 10 times as many people as wars: every year, 8 million people, including 1.8 million children, die of diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid, malaria, etc. 2. Access to drinking water and sanitation for all does have a cost, and it must be distributed fairly. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals implies securing the essential financing. It is essential that this urgency not be jeopardised by the current international financial crisis. 3. Basin level water management: the solution to geopolitical water issues. There are 276 rivers or lakes and several hundred aquifers around the world, whose basins are shared by at least two and sometimes many more neighbouring countries. The need to share water can considerably exacerbate any historical, geopolitical, ideological or religious disputes between neighbouring countries. 4. Water crises: a priority on the climate agenda. If 700 million people in 43 countries, or about 9% of the world's population, now live in countries subject to "water stress", by the year 2025 there could be 3 billion of them, or about 38% of the world's population (then estimated at 8 billion). Climate change will aggravate water shortages as a result of constantly growing demand (demographics, urbanisation, changing lifestyles, irrigation, etc.).

7 The FWP in the 5th WWF in Istanbul A French delegation of 634 representatives, the second in number behind the Turkish hosts 2 French Ministers (JL. Borloo and C. Jouanno) in the ministerial meetings, the thematic sessions and the high-level panels and during the side events on the French Pavilion for Water Presence of more than 40 French local elected representatives in the meetings of the local authorities Coordination and animation of 11 plenary sessions Participation of the members and the executive Secretarial as panelists in 40 plenary sessions Coordinating of the parliamentary process by a member of the FWP A 150 m2 French Pavilion for Water in the WaterExpo, with 15 side events

8 World Water Forum 6, 2012: from Istanbul to Marseilles Marseilles, France are the city and country to host the 2012 World Water Forum. The French candidacy showcased a will to engage people regionally in the global debate around water, but at the same time made it clear that debate is not enough. Through its candidacy, France committed to making the World Water Forum in 2012, the Forum of concrete solutions. The next stakeholder meeting for the 6 th World Water Forum is scheduled on November th in Paris.

9 FWP s recommandations for the WWF6 in Marseille Define the access to water and sanitation as the key issue and focus the debates towards the achievement of the MDGs Concentrate the debates on some key questions coming from the preparatory processes and dealing to concrete solutions Better organize the interactions between the political, thematic and regional processes Increase the participation of the civil society Better communicate towards the people at large on the results and on the progress made between the Forums Improve the regional coordination, in particular European

10 FWP and the 6th WWF The FWP is deeply involved in the preparation of the 6th WWF: Some of its members are members of the International Steering Comitee and responsible for the political, thematic and regional processes The FWP s President is the deputy chairman of the French National Comitee chaired by President Sarkozy s director of cabinet The FWP coordinates the French «thematic» and «local authorities» Commissions

11 Thank you for your attention! French Water Partnership 83, avenue Foch BP Paris Cedex 16, France Tel : Fax :