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On Saturday, 6 August, United Nations University (UNU) and Yamaha Motor Corporation (Yamaha) hosted a forum, “Water for People — Drinking Water and the Coastal Hydrosphere,” in the UN Pavilion at Aichi World Expo 2005, Japan. |
This 3-hour event was hosted through the partnership between UNU and Yamaha with its objective to further strengthen the efforts in striving for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly Target 10 of Goal 7 — that is, to “halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation.” The forum emphasized the importance of the water resources management and its use, in order to benefit those who use the water resources for their daily activities particularly in the developing countries.
The forum was divided into two sessions: drinking water and coastal environment conservation. Total of 8 experts and practitioners in these themes were invited. Drinking water session was started by a keynote speech by Prof. Itaru Yasui, Vice-Rector of UNU, who overviewed challenges and activities of the UN and UNU on water issues. An expert on slow sand filtration, Prof. Nobutada Nakamoto of Shinshu University, who has recently won the Global 100 Eco-Technology Award, introduced the concept of the slow sand filtration technology in his presentation, “Slow Sand Filtration Technology Focusing on Algal Production.” This technology utilizes the natural purifying function of micro-organisms without relying on any flocculating chemical agents. He particularly focuses on the role of algae in producing more energy-efficient, environmental-friendly, and most importantly, clean and safe water.
In the presentation, “Capacity Building for Water Supply in Cambodia,” Ms. Keiko Yamamoto highlighted the history and development of water infrastructure and capacity building of Cambodia. Although external aid is important for building the infrastructure itself, she emphasized the importance of long-term capacity building plan with training of trainers concepts. Mr. Yukimichi Nakamura of Yamaha Motor Corporation explained a clean water project in Indonesia in his presentation, “Clean Water Project at Karawang, Indonesia, and the Future!”. The clean water project in the village called Karawang has the objective of contributing to serious water sanitation problem in Indonesia. He further described the story of how, through this project, a slow sand filtration system was installed and self-maintained by the villagers with an autonomous management committee.
During the second session on coastal environment conservation, Dr. Fukuya Iino of UNU introduced the achievements and challenges of the UNU project, “Environmental Monitoring and Governance in the Coastal Hydrosphere,” which has entered a new phase with two additional countries (India and Pakistan). The project was launched more than 9 years ago in Asia and the Pacific and focused on the importance of protecting coastal environments and building academic networks in the region.
Two experts, Mr. Shinichiro Kakuma and Mr. Naoshi Tamura from the Research Institute of Subtropics in Okinawa and the Iwate Prefectural Government, respectively, shared their experience in coastal resources management in South East Asia and Japan. In the presentation, “Co-management of Coastal Fisheries Resources and Ecosystem in the Developing Countries,” Mr. Kakuma explained the situation of coral reef degradation and unsustainable fishing practice in Asia, drawing cases from the Philippines and Fiji. Mr. Tamura described the importance of conserving the rich marine biodiversity and marine industry of the Iwate’s coastal environment in his presentation, “Relationship between Fishery Industry and Environmental Conservation in Iwate.”
Along with the company’s core philosophy, Mr. Toshiharu Yamada of Yamaha Motor Corporation, in the presentation “Supporting Coastal Fisheries and Helping Conserve Fishery Resources,” introduced their activities on supporting coastal fisheries and conserving fishery resources in the world.
Although the theater place only had a limited space, more than 70 people, the maximum capacity of the place, attended the forum throughout the duration of the forum They included researchers, various post-graduate students, and general visitors to the UN Pavilion. Among them, particularly noted was the level of interest of news media, five media and news companies, including NHK and Asahi Newspaper, attended the forum and several of them conducted interviews during and after the forum. Furthermore, a special TV program featuring on the clean water project and slow sand filtration technology in Indonesia will be broadcasted through Fuji broadcasting networks on 10 September 2005 between 14:35 and 15:50.
The forum highlighted the importance and the high potential of private-sector partnership, by proving the level of professional interest and technical capacity that the private sector has and is willing to share through such partnership. It is therefore hoped that the forum shows one successful case for such UN-private sector partnership in order to better coordinate toward achieving the MDGs, especially the environmental sustainability.
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| Author(s) |
UN Pavilion |
| Source |
UN Pavilion |
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| Publication Date |
05 Aug 2005 |
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