AIDA joins the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development as a founding partner In January 2012, AIDA has joined as a founding partner the Global Forum on Law, Justice and Development, promoted and hosted by the World Bank. Particulars about the Forum can be found at http://bbi.syr.edu/gfljd/. AIDA has thus joined a vast coalition of partners ranging from inter-governmental organizations to NGOs, and from government to academia, who have subscribed to the goals of the initiative, and have committed to supporting it. It is expected that the Forum will provide opportunities for AIDA to contribute from its vast pool of expertise, and gain as a result in visibility and relevance. The AIDA membership will be informed and called upon as specific opportunities materialize.
A Savoir n° 3 - Toward a Joint Management of Transboundary Aquifer Systems,
Methodological Guidebook published by the French Development Agency, is now available in English
The English version of this study, which was co-authored by Hubert Machard de Gramont and Didier Pennequin (BRGM), Coralie Noel (International Office for Water), Jean-Louis Oliver and Martina Rama (Académie de l’eau) and AIDA member Raya Marina Stephan, (UNESCO-IHP) and was announced in these Flash News on 13/12/2010 (see Flash News Archive), may now be downloaded at http://www.afd.fr/webdav/site/afd/shared/PUBLICATIONS/RECHERCHE/Scientifiques/A-savoir/03-VA-A-Savoir.pdf
Geopolitique de l'eau, Report of the French National Assembly, 2011 This report is the result of work carried out by an information mission which was formed in 2010 for the purpose of investigating the state-of-the.art of initiatives aimed at improving water resources management in the world, including domestic legislation and international agreements. The report, which features, among other, an interview to AIDA member Raya Marina Stephan, may be downloaded freely from http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i4070.pdf.
International Water Law Scholarship Programme
The Global Water Partnership, together with IHP-HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science under the auspices of UNESCO at the University of Dundee, offers scholarships for thirty participants to undertake a module in International Water Law, in Dundee from 11th to 29th June 2012.
Applications will be accepted until 3 February 2012. Successful candidates will be notified at the beginning of March 2012 to allow as much time as possible to obtain visas, additional funding, etc.
Scholarship recipients are responsible for all travel (to/from Dundee) and subsistence (food/accommodation) costs. GWP is aiming at providing funding for travel and subsistence for a limited number of successful Scholarship applicants. Even though final funding is pending, GWP and the University of Dundee now invite applications from suitable candidates.
The module is aimed at persons working in water resources who wish to acquire specialist knowledge of international water law, especially as it relates to transboundary water challenges
Applicants to the joint GWP-University of Dundee IWL Programme should be from GWP Partner organisations and are required to be proficient in English, either as native speakers, or to a standard of an IELTS score of 6.5. A university degree is required in Hydrology, Environmental Science, Law, Agriculture, or related field.
FOR FURTHER DETAILS, VISIT http://www.gwp.org/GWP-Dundee-2012
Le droit à l'eau et à l'assainissement en Europe, by H. Smets, Editions Johanet, Paris, 2012
Regional treaties have been concluded in Europe in order to render it obligatory for states to provide all with access to drinking water and sanitation. Henri Smets, member of the French Water Academy, has compiled in this book the essays of 25 authors, which show the way in which the right to water and sanitation is being dealt with in European countries and, in particular, in France. The book highlights shortcomings in the domestic legislation of these countries and suggests possible corrective actions. To order this book, visit http://www.editions-johanet.net/ouvrage/?id=54.
AIDA member Renee Martin-Nagle reports on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Conference held in Bonn, 16-18 November 2011 From November 16 through November 18, 2011, the German government, through its ministries BMZ and BMU, hosted a conference in Bonn to explore the interrelationships among water, energy and food and to determine challenges and solutions deriving from this nexus. In the view of the German government, solving the issues arising from the water-energy-food nexus is at the heart of any credible proposal to achieve sustainability, and this conference was convened to highlight and develop the concept prior to Rio+20. The invitation-only gathering featured over 500 participants from around the world representing governments, NGOs, academia and industry, and for the first time the water, energy and food sectors were brought together to engage in dialogue and brainstorming. With Chancellor Angela Merkel as patron and HRH Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and H.E. Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, as keynoters, the conference benefitted from stellar speakers and well-informed participants.
The ministries, with assistance from their conference partners, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the World Economic Forum and the World Wildlife Fund, organized the proceedings in a manner that would provide education, foster dialogue and inspire solutions. The first day was dedicated to explaining the nexus connections and interactions. The second day explored solutions through a mix of plenaries, discussions of hot topics and descriptions of projects that are already implementing nexus solutions. The third day was an analysis of the enabling environment that must be created to attain realization of the nexus approach, as well as a call to action for participants to take the nexus concept to Rio in June 2012. The full program, as well as many of the presentations and papers, can be found at www.water-energy-food.org.
Once the connections among water, energy and food are identified, the interactions among them become obvious, and the complexity of the problems becomes quickly apparent. Water is used in the energy production process for extraction, mining, processing, refining, and residue disposal of fossil fuels, as well as for growing feedstock for biofuels and for generating electricity. Conversely, energy is needed for extracting, transporting, distributing and treating water. Similarly, water and food have a symbiotic relationship, as food cannot be grown without water, and plants and ecosystems provide a natural filtration function for water and are crucial to the hydrologic cycle. Agriculture affects both the water and energy sectors, because it is responsible for 70% of the global fresh water withdrawals, and the full food production and supply chain uses 30% of the global energy output. With the population expected to increase to 8 billion by 2030 and 9 billion by 2050, the demands for water, energy and food will increase substantially, and consideration of trade-offs will become more important and more common. The conference organizers were adamant in insisting that any nexus solutions must be derived in accordance with three guiding principles. First, access to water, energy and food for everyone must be accelerated, and the bottom billion must be integrated into the delivery stream. Secondly, with the population growing exponentially and resources becoming limited, the world must learn to create more with less through elimination of waste and implementation of better technology. Finally, ecosystem services must be sustained through investment and protective measures.
Throughout the conference, in nearly every discussion and presentation, speaker after speaker stated clearly that arriving at an integrated nexus approach will not be possible without the proper frameworks, policies and incentives, all of which require the involvement of lawyers. If the nexus approach is to succeed – as it must for our global well-being – then the lawyers will have to be mobilized to design, draft and implement policies and their accompanying regulations. The water sector plays a critical role, since water is at the fulcrum of both the energy and agriculture sectors. The expertise of water lawyers, particularly those with an international practice and perspective, will provide a vital component to any change in the status quo, particularly a change that will overhaul old paradigms. Fortunately, everyone at this groundbreaking conference recognized the importance of involving lawyers and policymakers at every step of the transition to the nexus approach, and, just as fortunately, the community of water law experts is up to the task.
UN-Water - Global Survey on UN-Water Publications with Specific Attention to the Future of the World Water Development Report UN-Water is taking a strategic look at its main periodical publications with specific attention to the future of the World Water Development Report (WWDR). A global survey is now being undertaken to generate stakeholder feedback on how readers perceive the WWDR as well as input on how it, alongside other UN-Water publications, can be improved.
The questionnaire will only take approximately 10 minutes to fill out and we recommend that you do it in one go to avoid losing information should you resume your session after an interruption. Any questions regarding the contents of the questionnaire, will be responded to by the UN-Water coordination team for the survey through Ms. Josephine Gustafsson, josephine.gustafsson@siwi.org or phone +46 8 522 139 60.
Kindly provide your input by responding to the online survey below by 15 January, 2012.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Global_Survey_on_UN-Water_publications-English
Joakim Harlin, UNDP Coordinator of UN-Water Publications Survey
UN-Water souhaite porter un regard stratégique sur ses principales publications périodiques, notamment en ce qui concerne l'avenir du Rapport mondial sur le développement de l'eau (World Water Development Report, WWDR). Une enquête mondiale est maintenant en cours pour collecter l’opinion des parties prenantes sur la façon dont les lecteurs perçoivent le WWDR ainsi que des contributions sur la façon dont ce Rapport, aux côtés d'autres publications d'UN-Water, peut être amélioré.
Répondre au questionnaire ne vous prendra que 10 minutes environ ; nous vous recommandons de le faire en une seule fois afin d’éviter de perdre des informations si vous reprenez la session après une interruption. Vous pouvez adresser toute question concernant le contenu du questionnaire à l'équipe UN-Water de coordination de l'enquête en écrivant à Mlle Josephine Gustafsson, josephine.gustafsson@siwi.org ou par téléphone: +46 8 522 139 60.
Veuillez svp envoyer votre contribution en répondant à l’enquête en ligne ci-dessous avant le 15 Janvier 2012.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Enquete_mondiale_sur_les_publications_de_UN-Water-Francais
Joakim Harlin, UNDP Coordinator of UN-Water Publications Survey
UN-Water está llevando a cabo una revisión estratégica de sus principales publicaciones periódicas, con especial atención al futuro del Informe de las Naciones Unidas sobre el desarrollo de los recursos hídricos en el Mundo (WWDR). Se está realizando una encuesta mundial para generar comentarios de las partes interesadas sobre cómo los lectores perciben el WWDR, así como para obtener retroalimentación sobre la forma en que ésta y otras publicaciones de UN-Water pueden ser mejoradas.
Llenar el cuestionario sólo le llevará unos 10 minutos, por lo que le recomendamos que lo haga de una sola vez para evitar perder información en caso de reanudar la sesión después de una interrupción. Cualquier pregunta relacionada con el contenido del cuestionario será respondida por el equipo de coordinación de UN-Water a través de Josephine Gustafsson, josephine.gustafsson@siwi.org o en el teléfono +46 8 522 139 60.
Sírvase proporcionar su opinión respondiendo a la encuesta en línea mencionada abajo hasta el 15 de enero de 2012.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Encuesta_Global_sobre_las_publicaciones_de_UN-Water-Espanol
Joakim Harlin, UNDP Coordinator of UN-Water Publications Survey
UNWC Global Initiative Symposium, 'The 1997 UN Watercourses Convention – What Relevance in the 21st Century', Dundee, Scotland, 5-8 June, 2012
CALL FOR PAPERS A number of institutions have come together under the umbrella of the UNWC Global Initiative in recent years, to examine the reasons why the UNWC has not come into force yet. The UNWC Global Initiative has sought to further knowledge and understanding of the relevance of the UNWC in addressing the contemporary pressures on the world’s freshwater resources. As part of the activities of the UNWC Global Initiative, the IHP-HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy & Science, jointly with the WWF, will organize a global symposium on the UNWC at Dundee, Scotland, on 5-8 June, 2012. The aim of the symposium is to gather together experts from academia, government, international organizations, civil society, etc., to debate the existing and potential relevance of this global framework instrument.
The convenors of the symposium invite experts to submit papers on topics related to the UNWC. Paper abstracts of no more than 500 words should be sent to Dr Alistair Rieu-Clarke (a.rieuclarke@dundee.ac.uk) by 10 February, 2012. Abstracts will then be reviewed by a scientific steering committee and participants will be notified by 9 March, 2012, whether their abstract has been accepted. A set of selected papers will be published in a special issue of a journal after the symposium.
The organizers have limited funds to cover the attendance of participants from developing countries. Therefore those who submit an abstract should state whether their attendance is contingent on receiving financial support. For more information, contact
Dr Alistair Rieu-Clarke, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN. Tel: +44(0)1382386471; Email: a.rieuclarke@dundee.ac.uk
Ms Flavia Loures, Senior Programme Officer, International Law and Policy, Freshwater Programme, WWF, 1250 24th Street NW, Washington DC 20037 – 1193. Tel: +1.202.495.4716; Email: flavia.loures@WWWFUS.ORG
UN-Water Newsletter No. 10 UN-Water Newsletter No. 9 of 20 December, 2011, is now available at http://www.unwater.org/newsletter10.html
International Community Law Review - The special issue on 'Transboundary Aquifers and International Law' has been released A new issue of the International Community Law Review (Vol. 13, no. 3, 2011) is now available. It is the result of a seminar held on 31 August 2010 at the University of Surrey, UK, on "Transboundary Aquifers and International Law: The Experience of the Guarani Aquifer System".
Contents include:
- Catherine Brölmann, Transboundary Aquifers as a Concern of the International Community
- Attila Tanzi, Furthering International Water Law or Making a New Body of Law on Transboundary Aquifers? An Introduction
- Kerstin Mechlem, Past, Present and Future of the International Law of Transboundary Aquifers
- Raya Marina Stephan, The Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers: The Process at the UN ILC
- Owen McIntyre, International Water R esources Law and the International Law Commission Draft Articles on Transboundary Aquifers: A Missed Opportunity for Cross-Fertilisation?
- Francesco Sindico, The Guarani Aquifer System and the International Law of Transboundary Aquifers
- Gabriel E. Eckstein, Buried Treasure or Buried Hope? The Status of Mexico-U.S. Transboundary Aquifers under International Law
- Felix Zaharia, The Law of Transboundary Aquifers in Practice - the Mureş Alluvial Fan Aquifer System (Romania/Hungary)
- Maria Gavouneli, A Human Right to Groundwater?
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