Impressions of the Third World Water Forum

Saturday, March 22^nd

At this day, we celebrate World Water Day. A day full of celebrations and events around the theme "water". Not just at the World Water Forum but all over the globe. In India for instance more than 10.000 people unite to form a human chain for miles and miles along the riverbanks of the Ganges. A day during which water is honoured and attention is asked for the water situation. We use the morning for a meeting with YWAT (Youth Water Action Team), an international group of enthusiastic people between 18 and 30 who are interested in water issues. Almost 50% are young professionals the others are students. We exchange ideas on how we can cooperate and strengthen each other’s impact.

Each of us is spending the afternoon doing different things, from visiting tourist sites to attending the launching of the UN World Water Development Report (available in seven languages). Of course World Water Day is the best day to issue the first report. It assesses the current water situation in different countries and will be repeated in three years. Of course many of the issues were discussed in different session during the World Water Forum. Nevertheless it is good to have a more comprehensive report with facts and figures. If you are interested you can download the executive summary or buy the complete report.

Meeting with YWAT

Veronique visited museums and Celeste went to the world famous rock garden. In the evening we rejoin for the Kyoto concert. The performance is on water music and includes the City Philharmonic and a children’s choir. When the children line up for the concert, we clearly see that the vast majority of these Japanese children are having bended legs.

Together with the Ministers and other participants of the Forum, we receive a warm welcome by the City major Mr Masumoto Yorikama, and witness the cracking of two sake barrels. The music is lovely and the maestro is obviously talented and enthusiastic. You can see his movements align with the music. Afterwards we have a light souper at a trendy bar, spring rolls and shrimps on fried rice. We depart just in time to catch the last subway to our hotel.