Overview of the Conference. Josefina Maestu, Director of UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC). International Annual UN-Water Zaragoza Conference 2012/2013. Preparing for the 2013 International Year. Water Cooperation: Making it Happen! 8-10 January 2013

1. Introduction and overview
of the Conference
Josefina Maestu

2. The Context
• Climate Change
• Population Growth
• Food needs
• Energy
GREATER NEEDS FOR COOPERATION

3. There Are Many Benefits!
• For equity and poverty reduction
• For development-economic benefits
• For the environment
• For Peace
We will hear about this in the side event of lunch
time of today

4. In Zaragoza
• We have decided to go a step further and deal with the "how"
question.
• This is: what are the tools for cooperation (legal, institutional,
financial, information and knowledge sharing, benefit sharing, and
dispute resolution mechanism)? and how they are implemented in
practice?

5. Tools For Cooperation Are Critical Because
• There are many countries, groups and
• Water is Complex organizations with responsibilities, making it
difficult for a single organization to be effective
on its own.
• The water sector “is • Water Problems do not originate solely in the
not an island” sector‟s institutions (policies, laws, traditions,
organization) and nor can they be solved by
water institutions alone.
• Water management is always tied to land
• There are Links
management and influenced by urban planning.
between Water and
Biodiversity underpins water security
Land and
biodiversity

6. What Tools to Further Cooperation?
• Legal frameworks and institutional arrangements
• Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms
• Information sharing and joint assessments
• Financing water cooperation

7. We have considerable advances in the global legal
and institutional framework for cooperation
• The Water Conventions
• Creation of Transboundary Commissions
We will hear about this in the next presentation

8. The Focus of the Conference
• We will be drawing lessons specifically from specific experiences on
the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
• The conference will highlight the importance of mediation, water
diplomacy, negotiation at transnational but also at national and local
level.

9. Themes and focus areas
Themes:
• Mediation
• Participatory approaches
• Water diplomacy
Focus areas:
• Transboundary cooperation
• River basin cooperation among stakeholders
• Rural areas (irrigation associations and community initiatives)
• Cities (business, water operators, local actors)

10. Why are we here?
• Insuring cooperation requires that we have to learn to do a lot better
in negotiation and dispute resolution and to learn a lot faster than we
have in the past.
• Across the world, we can share with each other a number of
common approaches that can help.
• Inspiring participants to do „better‟ highlighting some of the crucial
ingredients for success in negotation and dipute resolution.
• Identify the general and locally specific difficulties, challenges,
barriers and failures that we cannot ignore and can learn from.

11. A cooperative effort
The conference is hosted by the Ebro River Basin Authority
(CHE), and organized by the UN-Water Decade Programme on
Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) in collaboration
with:
• UNESCO‟s International Hydrological Programme (IHP)
• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNEC
• Global Compact CEO Water Mandate
• Global Water Operators‟ Partnership Alliance (GWOPA)/UN-
Habitat
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC)
• E)
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• World Bank

12. COOPERATION EXPERIENCES
Europe: Sava, Basin, Tizsa, Basin Spain/Portugal,
Russia/Finland, Decentralised countries in Europe,
Asia: Jordan, india, Myanmar
Latin America: Bolivia, Peru, Africa: Etiopia, Kenia, Madagascar, Morroco,
Guatemala South Africa, Senegal Basin

13. Participants
Over 120 participants will attend the Conference among which:
• Key experts in water cooperation
• Representatives from government authorities
• Representatives from cases
• UN-Water partner organizations

14. Outputs
The Conference contributes to the IYWC and WWD 2013 by producing:
• Documented cases on the practical implementation of tools and
approaches
• A synthesis on lessons learnt on approaches for dispute
resolution (ADR) and on improving water cooperation
• Proceedings of the conference capturing the main debates and
discussions, include shared lessons
• Prepare information briefs and visual materials to be used during
the international year
• Feedback on the main messages for World Water Day 2013.

15. Programme day 1
Water cooperation: nations and stakeholders. Making it happen!
• Opening and welcome
• Session 1: Furthering water cooperation between nations and between
stakeholders: making it happen!
• Lunch time side event: World Water Day 2013 “Cooperation: the fundament
of global water goals”
• Workshop Water Game
Side events:
• World Water Week 2013 (SIWI)
• The UN Global Compact: CEO Water Mandate and the Water Action Hub
20:30 Official Welcome at the Aljafería – Parliament of Aragon

16. Programme day 2
Water cooperation in rural areas and cities. Making it happen!
• Session 2: Furthering water cooperation in rural areas: making it happen!
• Session 3: Techniques and models to further water cooperation to improve
water efficiency and water services in cities
• Wrap up and take away lessons
Side events:
Intensively developed aquifers (Botín Foundation Water Observatory)
Informal meeting on the Post-2012 and ODS process (UNICEF, UN-Water)

17. Programme day 3
Water cooperation in Spain- Side Event
• Overview
• Strengths and weaknesses according to different actors
• Other cooperation formulas
Field Visits:
Zaragoza water Cluster
Irrigation Cooperative of Riegos del Alto Aragon.

18. The conference design
• An open event (through webcast and Twitter);
• An interactive event (though the design in interview style plenary and
facilitated game and working group sessions);
• An all inclusive event (so that all of us will be given the opportunity to
have their say in plenary and in small and very small groups);
• Inspiring (through the examples provided by the actors in cooperation)
• And specially as a learning space about how to make cooperation
happen (by being given an opportunity of reflecting on our own
experience and enough time for enquiring on the how to improve
cooperation)
• A practical event with a focus on “take home” lessons on what would
work for us.

19. Engaging all in the conference
ALL in Small (and very Sharing and reflecting
small) Group work on what helped in
and the Water Game successful experiences
Facilitators/Chairs/ To help Focus on
Interviewers results, Key Points &
Animation
Presenters and Providing insights and
panelists/ examples for all to
Interviewees discuss and reflect on

20. EARLY MORNINGS To highlight to key
Recap ideas
Side events To provide a platform
to share other
(5) experiences in greater
depth
Field Visits To show “cooperation
in action” in the city
(5) and in rural areas

21. A Communicating Conference
Communications at the Conference:
• Daily newsletter
• Webcast (via Conference website) and video of the Conference
• Twitter (#IYWC)
• Interviews
• Video Interviews
• Press conferences and press notes
• Press articles
On the Conference website you can find:
- Information briefs
- Overview papers
- Cases papers and summaries
- Interviews
www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/water_cooperation_2013/

22. What‟s Next?
Milestone events on water cooperation in 2013:
• 11th of February: Kick-off Meeting of the International Year -
UNESCO HQ Paris, France
• 22 March: World Water Day - The Hague, The Netherlands
• 22 March: High-level dialogue at UN General Assembly - New York
• August: High-level international conference - Dushanbe, Tajikistan
• September: World Water Week „Water Cooperation – Building
Partnerships‟ - Stockholm, Sweden
• 9 -11 October: Budapest Water Summit - Hungary

23. We would like to ask you…
• To contribute to the IYWC by reviewing the lessons learnt
overview and information briefs and send us your comments

24. Most important: we hope this
conference will have an IMPACT for
your work and basin, with “take home”
practical ways of improving cooperation