Conferencia "Reforma y Acceso al Agua de los Pobres de Zonas Rurales"

Estimad@s Colegas,

El Foro Danés del Agua (DWF) y el Instituto Danés de Estudios Internacionales (DIIS) están organizando la Conferencia "Reforma y Acceso al Agua de los Pobres de Zonas Rurales" que se derrollará el 19 de setiembre en Copenhagen.

La conferencia abordará la problemética del agua, su reforma en el logro de los Objetivos del Milenio, el acceso al agua en las zonas rurales e intentará responder preguntas básicas sobre las oportunidades y estrategias de estas reformas. Además, se contará con expertos internacionales que enriquecerán la discusión de los temas.

Para mayor información revisar la siguiente página web: http://www.diis.dk/sw25932.asp

Atentamente,

InfoAndina
InfoAndina@cgiar.org

Background:

Inspired by the Dublin principles and Agenda 21 from Rio in 1992 water reforms have been implemented in a large number of developing countries over the past 15 years. In 2000 the World adopted a series of Millennium Development Goals, setting targets for reduction of poverty, hunger, diseases and environmental degradation by 2015, all strongly dependent on improved water management. The World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 underscored this critical role of water and directed all countries to accelerate water reforms by preparing Integrated Water Resources Management and Water efficiency Plans by 2005. The current wave of water reforms feature substantial changes in water governance, i.e. the political, social, economic and administrative institutions involved in developing, allocating, regulating and managing water. Common elements in such reform initiatives have been efforts to achieve integration among sectors with respect to water management; decentralized decision making, often involving attempts to institutionalize user participation; private property or user rights to water; and increasing reliance on market mechanisms to ensure the most costeffective allocation and management of scarce water resources.

Sustainable access to water of a good quality is a cornerstone in securing and improving the livelihoods of the rural poor throughout the developing world. Without it, basic needs cannot be fulfilled and local production systems cannot be sustained. The issue of distribution of water is therefore important to water governance, as no institutional arrangement that governs the access to and use of water is ever neutral, but will – intentionally or not – favour some uses and users at the expense of others.

On this background, Danida, Danish Water Forum (DWF) and Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) have decided to organize the conference with the overall objective of exploring the following two key questions:

• To which extent do the poorest benefit from the current wave of water reforms?
• What are the opportunities and strategies as well as the constraints to ensure pro-poor outcomes of water reform?

The conference presents international experts in these fields and gives rich opportunity for discussion of the themes.

Conference programme (pdf, 98 KB) :
http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Events/2006/waterreform/conference_programme.pdf

Invited speakers (pdf, 105 KB) :
http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Events/2006/waterreform/about_speakers.pdf

DIIS Brief Water Reform – implications for rural poor people"s access to water  (pdf, 86 KB) :
http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/Briefs2006/hmr_brief_waterreform_final.pdf

Short country reviews of recent or ongoing water reform :
http://www.diis.dk/sw25948.asp

Conference organizing group:
Torsten Rødel Berg, Aalborg University
Miriam Feiberg, DWF-Research
Mikkel Funder, Nordeco
Helle Munk Ravnborg, DIIS

Conference registration:
Participants are requested to register for the conference at dwf@danishwaterforum.dk before September 1, 2006. Participant fee is DKK 100 to cover lunch at Eigtveds Pakhus.