IGRAC at Stockholm Water Week 2012

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IGRAC participated in the 2012 Stockholm Water Week where the official launching of the World Water Day took place. The World Water Week (WWW) event, held the last week of August in Stockholm, gathered more than 200 organizations in a unique forum to exchange experience, discuss ideas and propose actions towards water-related challenges. IGRAC participated in the WWW and particularly in the seminar that officially launched the preparations for the UN International Year of Cooperation and the World Water Day 2013.

The organization of next year's UN International Year and World Water Day will be coordinated by UNESCO and the Government of the Netherlands.  Ms. Gretchen Kalonji of UNESCO (photo middle) and Mr. Niels Vlaanderen (right) of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment of the Netherlands received the launching statuette from Mr. Pasquale Steduto (photo left), deputy director of FAO's Land and Water Division.

The launching took place during a seminar on "UN International Year of Cooperation and World Water Day 2013" where IGRAC contributed to the panel discussion "Piecing Together the Water Cooperation Puzzle". The panel addressed various aspects of water cooperation, such as legislation, coordination, transboundary waters, data sharing, capacity development and water diplomacy.

The theme of next year's World Water Day - on 22 March - will be water cooperation, in reflection to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declaration of 2013 as the UN International Year of Water Cooperation. 2013 World Water Day will be hosted in The Netherlands with active involvement of IGRAC.

The objective of the UN International Year of Water Cooperation and World Water Day 2013 is to raise awareness on the potential for increased cooperation around water, addressing water-management challenges, and in especial water supply growing demand. To success on this task it is necessary an inspiring message able to grasp the multidisciplinary of water cooperation. Thereby, the World Water Day coordination has organized a slogan contest where everyone can participate.