The 5th World Water Forum will take place from March 16 to 22, in two historic areas of Turkey's most populous city, Feshane and Sütlüce. The forum is organized every three years, with the first of such events held in Morocco in 1997, followed by forums in the Netherlands (2000), Japan (2003) and Mexico (2006).
Apart from the general aims of the forum, including forming a platform to discuss worldwide water problems, raising public awareness and convincing politicians to put the issue of water on the agenda, the forum is also expected to be a good international experience for both Turkey and especially for İstanbul.
"It is like playing soccer on the international level," says the vice secretary-general of the event, Professor Ahmet Mete Saatçi.
"The forum deals with the problems of water of the whole world and has participants from around the world. The Japanese and Mexicans experienced the same process in previous water forums. We are working in cooperation with them. We have a big team to organize the forum and Japanese and Mexican people are also included in it," Saatçi explains.
The forum will bring things other than meetings and discussions about water. Saatçi says they expect more than 20,000 people to participate in the gathering in İstanbul, exceeding the number of participants in Mexico in 2006.
"When we take a look at the registration numbers, more people have been registering, and at a faster rate than Mexico. Including those from Turkey, we expect more than 20,000 participants," Saatçi notes.
Highlighting that these people are not only delegates but also tourists, he further says: "The event will have benefits on the side. For example, İstanbul will gain a big congress center together with the forum." Saatçi emphasizes that İstanbul will be the center of the water world from March until the next World Water Forum.
‘Japan is our example’
The forum also has some targets for the future and the organizers want the forum to be a step ahead in solving problems in Turkey which are related to water. One of the targets of the forum is to get politicians and official bodies working together and being involving in the decision-making process and creating solutions together.
Saatçi states that the benefits that Japan gained from holding the forum are numerous, with people now more confident in speaking out to official bodies about water issues. "In Japan, they have been able to deal with their problems with water and they have established an NGO. Now, it is working in cooperation with the [Japanese] government," Saatçi comments.
He emphasizes that Turkey is taking Japan as a role model to emulate and they want to implement and maintain a similar system after the forum.
‘Preparations are almost done’
The preparations for the forum have been ongoing for more than one-and-a-half years. A rehearsal meeting, testing the facilities, will take place on Feb. 14 and 15 with the participation of foreign ministers.
"We will have the chance to check the venues for the events and whether we are ready with our organization. The speakers are also almost ready. At the moment, we are working on the final arrangements," Saatçi notes.
The planning for the forum has been based on three processes: thematic, regional and political. The thematic process aims to bring all themes, topics and sessions ultimately to one goal: for action to bridge the divide in water. There are six themes in total, which are global changes and risk management; advancing human development and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); managing and protecting water resources and their supply systems to meet human and environmental needs; governance and management; finance; and finally education, knowledge and capacity development.
The second process is the political process. At this level, it is important to gather the participants who are politicians and official bodies. "The problems to be discussed in the forum need to be heard at the political level in order to make the decisions more efficient. At this level, we want to bring prime ministers, ministers, parliamentarians and municipal officials together," Saatçi says.
Emphasizing the importance of municipal officials and mayors, Saatçi adds, "They are maybe the most important officials because municipalities deal with water problems in their districts." He further highlights that municipalities have promised to take action on certain water issues and that these pledges will be discussed in the forum.
The final preparatory process is a regional one, which is handled through seven categories of Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, in and around Turkey, the Mediterranean, and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) /Arab countries.
"We have been in contact with different countries, such as Kyrgyzstan and Oman for example, within the framework of regional water cooperation and have tried to understand the problems with water in the regions. All such research will be collected and discussed in the forum," Saatçi says.
National
