３５７：WWRP-3報告書の発表

このブログでも以前書いているが、トルコの南東アナトリア地域ではGAPという大規模な開発計画がある。８８年現地に入り水資源システム分析専門家として始めて赴任した。８９年まで数回出張しただろうか。

国際入札でベクテルを下し威勢が良かった。団長は尊敬するN社のK氏、副団長は現在のR社長のHさんだ。

そのころの思い出は以前書いたブログの通りだが、GAP機構が設立されそのトップがDr. Olcay Unverだった。彼はイリノイ大学で水文とか水資源を専攻した新進気鋭の学者であった。それが行政官のトップとしてGAPを任されたわけだ。当時、４０歳ちょっと前ではなかったか。数年前までGAP長官（？）を務め、退官したのか。ケント大学の教授もしていたか。気がつくと国連のWWAPコーディネーターになっていた。

国際水資源学会で数年前に混乱があり、脱退表明をしたはずだ。ビスワス博士の奥さんが会長になって学会が混乱したため辞めたのであろう。ビスワスの奥さんもGAPをテーマにして博士号を取ったぐらいだし、Unverとは仲が良かったはずだ。前述のH氏も両者とは親しかったのに。あれからもう３年は経ったか。会長職も３年ぐらいだから混乱は正常化するのだろうか。

さて、そのUnverがUNのWWRP３のことについてインタビューに応じている。彼も写真で見ると大分年を取った。地味な感じの奴だったが。もう２１年も前だからね。

下記にインタビュー記事を載せる。今はWWRP3（全部で３０Mb)報告書をダウンロード中である。何しろアフリカ内陸国なので時間がかかる。相当なボリュームだから読むのに時間がかかりそうだ。

Water in a Changing World: Interview with Mr Olcay Unver

3rd UN World Water Development Report, 2009

Interview on the WWDR-3 and expectations for the future with
Mr Olcay Unver, WWAP Coordinator

Olcay Unver is the coordinator of the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP). Hosted by UNESCO, WWAP is responsible for the coordination of UN-Water’s flagship publication the World Water Development Report (WWDR). The third edition of the World Water Development Report (WWDR-3) was released in March, 2009. In the following interview, he discusses the reception WWDR-3 has had and what we can expect in the future.

How has the WWDR–3 been received?

The WWDR–3 has been received extremely well. By launching the Report on the opening day of the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, we were able to significantly increase the Report’s visibility. There was a great deal of interest in the Report when we presented it at the plenary session. The plenary hall, which seats 1,100 people, was completely full. And throughout the Forum, we could see that delegates were often referencing the Report’s findings during the meetings, sessions and side events.

In the past, we had launched the WWDR on World Water Day, which closes out the Forum. So it didn’t figure as prominently in the Forum’s deliberations, and since many delegates are unable to stay for the entire Forum, it reached fewer people.

The Report’s launch also generated tremendous interest outside the Forum. It received a wide coverage in international and local media. Le Monde published an article on the Report on its front page. In March, when we posted WWDR–3 on the UNESCO web site, there were a record number of hits to the site, around 8.5 million. Clearly not all this traffic was for the WWDR - 3, but I think we can be fairly sure the Report attracted a significant number of these visitors.

How will you be measuring the success of WWDR-3?

The Report’s success will be determined largely by how well we do at broadening its readership. We certainly need to make sure the report reaches those people who are calling the shots in the different water sectors. But most of the decisions that have the greatest impact on water resources, their management and their availability are made outside the ‘water box’. And most of the drivers affecting water resources are not within the control of those working in the water sector.

So it’s very important for us to get the WWDR into the hands of a broad range of decision-makers outside the water community. If we can do that, and if the Report makes them understand that their decisions have a direct impact on water resources and their availability, then we have been successful. If it makes them realize that a failure to take water into account in development strategies could lead to a situation where they risk water scarcity, then we have been successful.

That’s why WWAP and UN-Water have been working and will continue to work together to make sure that policy-makers participating in a wide range of high-level political processes are aware of WWDR – 3 and its findings. For example, we prepared a paper with data and findings extracted from WWDR- 3 at the G8 water experts meeting in April, which WWAP hosted in its new premises in Perugia, Italy. We also presented the WWDR at side events at the 17th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 17) and we prepared a contribution paper based on the Report for the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Is it too early to start thinking about WWDR-4?

Not at all. The Forum marked both the launch of the third report and the beginning of the preparations for the fourth. We held three meetings about WWDR-4 at the Forum: an event open to the public; another with members of the production team and UN-Water coordinators; and a third meeting with WWAP’s Technical Advisory Committee.

At the production team meeting, we reviewed some of the lessons learned during the WWDR-3 preparation process. The main lesson learned? Get an early start. Plan the process and the content together and have your storyline. So that’s what we’re doing.

Even though we worked hard at making the preparatory process for WWDR -3 more inclusive, we found that we need to fine tune the process. We need to be more actively engaged with our steering committee, which is UN-Water. We need to have a well-defined process in which everyone involved knows their roles and responsibilities. And we need clearly agreed upon checkpoints along the way and fallback plans if these checkpoints aren’t met.

We have already had two preparatory meetings in Paris and a meeting of the core group in Perugia. We also coordinated a series of meetings, questionnaires, surveys and on line discussions with UN-Water members and partners as well as other stakeholders to refine the possible alternatives for the content and structure of the next report. The results of these consultations will be compiled and presented at the UN-Water meeting in Stockholm in August. At that meeting, we anticipate reaching an agreement on the production team and on the way forward.

The next WWDR will have an overarching theme and we want to further focus on the impact of various drivers affecting water resources. We would like to develop scenarios for possible futures that would result if certain specific actions were to be taken or if no actions are taken at all. This exercise depends in large part on developing a new generation of indicators for monitoring the water sector.

[Extracted from an interview conducted with UN-Water, May 2009.]