May 22, 2008

Water : Should it is treated as commodity??

Prompted by the crises of clean water, that for about 1.3 billion people around the world has no access into water ( based on United Nation data), therefore, 23 institutions under supervised of UNESCO, held some conferences since 1997, called The World Water Forum.

The World Water Forum is the main water-related event in the world, aimed at putting water firmly on the international agenda. A stepping stone towards global collaboration on water problems, the Forum offers the water community and policy-and-decision-makers from all over the world the unique opportunity to come together to create links, debate and attempts to find solutions to achieve water security.

The first convention held in Morocco, on March 1997 and discussed about four main topics; Perspectives on World Water, On the Road toward a Long-Term Vision for World Water, The challenges of the 21st Century, Celebration of World Water Day *-----(source: World Water Forum Report)

The Second World Water Forum in The Hague-Netherlands, in 2000’s generated a lot of debate on the Water Vision for the Future and the associated Framework for Action, dealing with the state and ownership of water resources, their development potential, management and financing models, and their impact on poverty, social, cultural and economic development and the environment. The Ministerial Declaration identified meeting basic water needs, securing food supply, protecting ecosystems, sharing water resources, managing risks, valuing water and governing water wisely as the key challenges for our direct future.

The Third World Water Forum held in Kyoto, Shiga and Osaka, Japan, on March 2003. Took the debate a step further also within the context of the new commitments of meeting the goals set forth at the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in New York (2000), the International Freshwater Conference in Bonn (2001) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg (2002).
The large number of participants ensured that a variety of stakeholders and opinions were represented aiming at accepting differences and finding a common way forward. This event followed by 24,000 participants, 1000 journalist and 130 ministers. * -----
(source : World Water Forum Report)

The Fourth World Water Forum closed on March 22 March 2006, in Mexico City, after seven days of debates and exchanges.
The Forum represents a unique opportunity to foster the world’s attention on water related issues.

The Fifth World Water Forum will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 16 to 22 March 2009.*
----- (source : Water World Forum Report)

Nevertheless, even though water crises has now a big deal, water resources still over exploited by many countries, and treat it as a commodity (water as an economic goods). The efforts to privatize water caused by global capitalism raises day by day, in order to achieve the economic aspects of this natural resources. The fair and equitable distribution of clean drinking water has become a complex and controversial subject matter for most governments and their citizens.

Based on the problems above, the management of water should focus on providing a strong guiding principle for management of water resources and for environmental law in general. This focus also helps illuminate how water resources can be and should be treated as a right uses, rather than treated as an economic goods.

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