| Issue 64. 13 March 2015 | www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/decade_weekly.shtml |
| This week in focus | Editor’s note
Welcome to the Decade’s Weekly! Every week until 22 March 2015 we bring you the latest news from the International Decade for Action ’Water for Life’ 2005-2015. Please feel free to share this newsletter. You can also access this newsletter online. Tip of the week Visit the Water For Life Voices exhibition and website! |
| #WorldWaterDay
Just a few days left before the World celebrates a day for water and sustainable development! Date: 20 to 22 March 2014 On 22 December 1992, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution A/RES/47/193 through which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water, as a day to make a difference for the members of the global population who suffer from water related issues and to prepare for how we manage water in the future. In 2015, the theme 'Water and Sustainable Development' encourages thinking around how water links to all areas we need to consider how to create the future we want. Water is at the core of sustainable development. Water resources, and the range of services they provide, underpin poverty reduction, economic growth and environmental sustainability. Each year, UN-Water provides resources to inspire celebrations for World Water Day. At the dedicated website you may find ideas how to celebrate World Water Day, material available for download and an events section to promote and search for events happening in different regions.
Although there are many events taking place all over the World, this year the main official UN event will be celebrated on 20 March 2015, in New Delhi, India. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2015 ’Water for a Sustainable World’ will be launched during the official celebrations. Other events organised by the UN include a joint World Water Day and International Women’s Day organised by UNESCO-IHE on 12 March 2015, the Water Lecture
Watch the World Water Day trailer now online and use #WaterIs to share messages about #Water & #Sustainability!
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| In the news | Forthcoming events |
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#DisastersESCAP study on Natural Disasters in Asia and the Pacific 2014 calls for regional cooperation to address cross-border disasters
In 2014, over half of the world’s 226 natural disasters occurred in the Asia and Pacific region, affecting approximately 79.6 million people. The region experienced severe storms, cross-border floods and landslides, which accounted for 85% of all disasters, according to the ’Natural Disasters in Asia and the Pacific: 2014 Year in Review’ report, released by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on 24 February 2015. The report presents a diagnostic analysis of the region’s state of resilience and lessons learnt and highlights that the highest economic losses in Asia and the Pacific were incurred from river-basin floods (USD 16 billion). The region was found largely unprepared in its response to cross-border floods and landslides. Such disasters require improved regional information exchanges and the joint coordination of operations for effective early warning and evacuations, the report states. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that "growing global inequality, increasing exposure to natural hazards, rapid urbanization and the overconsumption of energy and natural resources threaten to drive risk to dangerous and unpredictable levels with systemic global impacts." The 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR15), prepared by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and launched on 4 March 2015 by the Secretary-General, states that economic losses from disasters are now reaching an average of USD 250 billion to USD 300 billion annually. GAR15 is a major contribution to the 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction to be held from 14 to 18 March 2015 in Sendai, Japan, which is due to adopt a new global agreement on disaster risk reduction which will update the Hyogo Framework for Action. The agenda of the Conference includes a working session on Integrated Water Resource Management. As independent sectors and through their inextricable linkages, water and energy are key drivers of economic growth and social development. Together, water and energy can promote stable societies and human dignity as well as realize basic human rights. However, significant advances are required in policy, research, and practice to realize the benefits of this nexus. The ’Another Drop’ Seminar organised by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) on 10 March 2015 tackled ’Water & Energy for Societies, Equality & Sustainable Development’. The seminar featured the launch of the UN report ’Putting Water and Energy at the Heart of Sustainable Development’, a reception announcing a new partnership between UNU-INWEH and EPCOR, and a seminar presentation on the importance of meeting water and energy targets post-2015. |
#Post2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations on Post-2015 Development Agenda - 3rd Session
Date: 23-27 March 2015 The United Nations is in the process of defining a post-2015 development agenda to be launched at a Summit in September 2015, which is the target date for realizing the MDGs. The intergovernmental negotiations on post-2015 development agenda are taking place over several sessions from January 2015. The upcoming 3rd session will focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets and will include side events organized by Member States, major groups and other stakeholders, UN system and other intergovernmental organizations. Date: 25-27 March 2015 The Dresden Nexus Conference (DNC) 2015 will convene under the theme 'Global Change, Sustainable Development Goals and the Nexus Approach,' and include participants from UN organizations, UN University (UNU) institutes, governments, international organizations, as well as individual researchers and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Focusing on the contributions of a nexus approach to the management of water, soil and waste, the DNC 2015 will address the following issues: maintaining and enhancing environmental resources under global change; facilitating efficient and sustainable use of limited natural resources; engaging international development partners in the promotion of the nexus approach; and facilitating a transition to a green economy, especially with regard to agriculture. There will be three thematic topics over the course of the three days; each day will deal with one aspect of global change: climate, urbanization and population growth. It will be discussed how the integrated management of environmental resources guided by nexus approach may help to achieve the potential targets of the post-2015 agenda. Date: 26-27 March 2015 The expert consultation has as its main objective to develop a partnership in capacity development on the use of new technologies for improved water productivity and management. To this purpose, it will bring together experts and users from various fields and disciplines who are all actively involved in the development and use of these technologies. The meeting will gather the supply and demand sides of new technologies: water professionals and managers, development practitioners, policy makers, farmer representatives and industrialists, researchers, and capacity development specialists. Along the 2-day meeting these participants will discuss salient questions and set the basis for the design of a capacity development programme for the period 2016-2019 which will be lead by Cap-Net UNDP under a partnership approach including partner organisations and affiliated networks. |