APWF 24th Governing Council Meeting

The Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF), for which Japan Water Forum acts as its Secretariat, organized the APWF 24th Governing Council Meeting at the Singapore PUB WaterHub on 22nd July 2019. In total, 27 representatives from the 21 organizations of the APWF members participated in the meeting.

The meeting was chaired by Mr. Ravi Narayanan, Ms. Changhua Wu, and Dr. Eduardo Araral in their capacities as Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Governing Council of APWF. The meeting participants discussed 1) The progress of the preparation for the 4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit (4th APWS), to be held on 19-20 October 2020, overall theme of the 4th APWS and the focus of the discussion; 2) APWF’s three priority thematic action plans; and 3) Current situations about the themes of 9th World Water Forum.

The outcomes of the discussion
1) Preparation for the 4th APWS
The APWF members gave the following opinions about the ways to clarify the difference between the other water-related international conference and the 4th APWS and operate the 4th APWS effectively. Subsequent discussions followed on ways to ensure that the messages and main themes emerging from the Yangon declaration were followed up for the 4th APWS. Considering these options and feedbacks, the APWF Secretariat will initiate to prepare the 4th APWS Declaration’s draft document collaborating with the APWF members, and the other international and domestic experts and practitioners.

2) APWF’s three thematic priority action plans
The three theme leaders (UNESCO for Water Cycle Management; UNESCAP for Governance and Inclusive Development; Financing and Investment for the Water-related SDGs) outlined their plans for developing theme papers with APWF members, etc, for the 4th APWS using events such as the 2019 Stockholm World Week and others as stepping stones in this process. The members also discussed the ways to promote the synergy of each 3 thematic action plan by addressing water cycle management in terms of governance and finance.

3) 9th World Water Forum
There is limited detail information while the preparation of the 9th World Water Forum was kicked-off last July. The APWF Secretariat will try to make positive efforts to correct appropriate information about the trends of each thematic discussion of the 9th World Water Forum. The APWF Secretariat will closely communicate with the APWF members to reflect the 4th APWS outcomes into the 9th World Waer Forum to promote the regional cooperation which will contribute to the solutions to the water challenges.

Your continuous feedbacks are greatly appreciated.

– Agenda –

(By Yumiko Asayama, Manager, JWF (Secretariat of the APWF)