Formulation
of National Water Vision to Action
for LDCs in South-East Asia:
Water Management Workshop in Myanmar
UNESCAP has been implementing a joint regional cooperation programme
with FAO, aiming at assisting developing countries in the region to develop strategic approaches to integrated water resources management.
Phase I of the
programme started in 2000 and completed in 2001, assisted the following four countries in
South-East Asia in the formulation of national water vision to action: Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet
Nam.
Phase II of the programme, started in 2002 and scheduled for completion in 2003, focuses on three
least developed countries in South-East Asia: Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar.
This phase includes the preparation for case study and the organization of national roundtable workshops.
Following the completion of
case studies for Lao PDR in December 2002 and in Cambodia in January 2003, the detailed preparation for the case study for Myanmar started in February 2003 with active participation of several
water-related agencies, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation as the focal point. They
prepared background materials for detailed discussion on the following four themes at a
two-day roundtable workshop held in Yangon, Myanmar on 25-26 June 2003:
(i) Water for poverty reduction and rural development,
(ii) Water for economic development and nature
conservation,
(iii) Pilot river basin management, and
(iv) Framework to turn the national water vision into reality.
The Workshop was attended by 36 participants from the various
water-related government agencies and they took part in the deliberation
on formulating key recommendations for follow-up actions.
Besides the 36 participants, approximately 30 invited guests attended the opening ceremony, which was presided over by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Mr. Ohn Myint.
On this occasion, the message of Mr. Ravi Sawhney, the Director of the Environment and Development Division of UNESCAP,
stressed that regional cooperation is the key to sustainable development in
Asia and the Pacific. He also said, "In taking up Least Developed Countries as the focus for this joint programme, UNESCAP intends to promote further regional collaboration in the field of water resources for the implementation of the Millennium Declaration, especially for the purpose of poverty eradication and provision of safe drinking water supply. Furthermore, following the agreement at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held last September in Johannesburg, UNESCAP intends to intensify its efforts to assist developing countries to meet the target on the development of integrated water resources management and water efficiency plans by 2005."
The priority recommendations of the Workshop highlighted the following strategic elements for a systematic implementation of integrated water resources management
(IWRM):
-
the urgent establishment of a national water management body;
-
the implementation of the national water law;
-
the allocation of adequate resources for water development and management;
-
the enhancement of stakeholders' participation in water policy development.
The above recommendations of the Myanmar workshop, together with the recommendations of the workshops for Cambodia and the Lao PDR, are being examined in the context of
the ongoing efforts of UNESCAP to assist developing countries in the region to meet the Millennium Development Goals and to implement the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
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