The 2nd UN World Water Development Report: 'Water, a shared responsibility'
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UN World Water Development Reports
The United Nations World Water Development Report, released every three years in conjunction with the World Water Forum, is the UN’s flagship report on water. It is a comprehensive review that gives an overall picture of the state of the world's freshwater resources and aims to provide decision-makers with the tools to implement sustainable use of our water.
Through a series of assessments, the Reports provide a mechanism for monitoring changes in the resource and its management and tracking progress towards achieving targets, particularly those of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The Reports also offer best practices as well as in-depth theoretical analyses to help stimulate ideas and actions for better stewardship in the water sector.
The development of the WWDR, coordinated by WWAP, is a joint effort of the 24 UN agencies and entities which make up UN-Water, working in partnership with governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders.
Targeted Audience
The WWDR is targeted to all those involved in the formulation and implementation of water-related policies and investment strategies, as well as to professionals at all levels. Although it offers a broad global picture, it focuses particularly on the situation in developing countries, where the need for better infrastructure and water governance is highest. With the report, WWAP is aiming to show where systems are failing, and to provide the information needed for efficient and effective capacity-building throughout the world.
2nd World Water Development Report (2006): 'Water, a shared responsibility'
The Report builds on the conclusions of the 1st United Nations World Water Development Report 'Water for People, Water for Life' published in 2003. It presents a comprehensive picture of freshwater resources in all regions and most countries of the world as it tracks progress towards the water-related targets of the UN Millennium Development Goals and examines a range of key issues including population growth and increasing urbanization, changing ecosystems, food production, health, industry and energy, as well as risk management, valuing and paying for water and increasing knowledge and capacity. Sixteen case studies look at typical water resource challenges and provide valuable insights into different facets of the water crisis and management responses.
Finally, the report outlines a set of conclusions and recommendations to guide future action and encourage sustainable use, productivity and management of our increasingly scarce freshwater resources.
Summary
Many countries are still not on track to reach the water-related targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – threatening their security, development and environmental sustainability – and millions of people die each year from treatable water-borne diseases. While water pollution and the destruction of ecosystems increase, we are witnessing the consequences that climate change, natural disasters, poverty, warfare, globalization, population growth, urbanization and disease – all of which impinge on the water sector – have on so many of the people of the world. It is widely accepted that sustainable and equitable water management must be undertaken using an integrated approach, that assessment of the resource is the basis for rational decision-making, and that national capacities to undertake such assessments must be further supported and expanded at local through international levels. It is therefore paramount to provide the best possible understanding of the state of the world’s freshwater resources to the world at large.
The triennial World Water Development Report (WWDR) lays the foundation for a continuous, global monitoring system and shows the United Nations system at work, pooling the unique perspectives and expertise of the 24 UN agencies that comprise UN-Water, in partnership with governments and other entities concerned with freshwater issues.
Water, a Shared Responsibility (March 2006) is the main outcome of Phase 2 of the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), founded in 2000 as a collective response of the UN system to assist countries in reaching their commitments in key water-related challenge areas. WWDR 2 offers a comprehensive and holistic assessment of the world’s water, while bringing the issues of water governance, knowledge accessibility and the specific challenges of managing water into the mainstream of development thinking and practices, across all the major intersections of water, human well-being and development. Bearing in mind users needs, the 2006 Report aims to be practical in orientation, offers best practices as well as in-depth theoretical and analytic
analyses to help stimulate ideas and actions for better stewardship in the water sector. The use of hundreds of maps, tables, figures, boxed examples, indicators and case studies illustrate that only our global cooperation will help to ensure an integrated, equitable and sustainable management of the world’s most precious resource – water.
