The Subregional Workshop for South and South-West Asia on the Promotion of Public Awareness of Water Conservation was held in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, from 7 to 9 May 2003.  The Workshop was co-organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Regional Centre on Urban Water Management (RCUWM-Tehran), with financial assistance from the Government of Japan and supplementary contribution from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  The Workshop was attended by 42 participants nominated by the Governments of the following members of UNESCAP: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan.  The resource persons from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland participated.

            The Workshop participants recognized the growing scarcity of freshwater resources of a quality suitable for meeting an ever-growing demand for water.  They agreed that water conservation and water use efficiency could be a viable and affordable solution, which would lessen the growing gap between an available water supply and consumer demand.  The Workshop, therefore, recommended to undertake the following action:

(i)                 Strengthen and enforce the implementation of laws, regulations and standards related to water use efficiency and conservation.

(ii)                Incorporate water conservation options into plans, programmes and activities for water resources development, management and planning.

(iii)              Adopt comprehensive water conservation policies, plans, and strategies that should be based on the use of institutional mechanisms, legal and financial instruments, economic incentives, as well as application of water saving technologies and promotion of water conservation awareness.

(iv)              Request Governments to allocate funds for promoting water conservation activities from water resources development budgets.

(v)               Request all potential donors to provide urgent technical assistance to the countries concerned in order to prepare water use efficiency plans by 2005 as stipulated in the Plan of Implementation, approved at the World Summit for Sustainable Development, September 2002.

(vi)              Promote public participation in water conservation programmes and activities.

(vii)            Support research and training for the promotion of water efficient technologies, publicize water use efficiency requirements and opportunities, and provide technical assistance to this end.

(viii)           Request UNESCAP and other international organizations to consider the possibility of developing a regional network to promote exchange of information, experience and technology for various aspects of water conservation.

(ix)              Give a required priority to issues related to rehabilitation and maintenance of water infrastructure.

                  It was agreed that the participating countries should formulate, adopt and implement measures for enhancing the national capacities for the promotion of public awareness of water conservation and water use efficiency in all economy sectors in line with the following recommendations:

(i)                 Enhance coordination among all the Government agencies, private sector entities and NGOs involved in raising awareness of water conservation; also set up, if required, an appropriate implementation mechanism.

(ii)                Within the overall framework of integrated water resources management, formulate and implement, as required, a national policy for water conservation which would include, inter alia, provisions for carrying out public awareness and education campaigns for rational water use, rehabilitation and protection of water resources.

(iii)              Consider the formulation of a national plan for water conservation awareness.

(iv)              Use the occasion of commemorating the International Year of Freshwater 2003 to raise awareness of water issues at all levels for mobilizing public support for policies and programmes related to water resources development and management as well as for specific water projects.

(v)               Identify and apply specific indicators for measuring and monitoring the effectiveness of public awareness water conservation campaigns and activities.

(vi)              Encourage Governments at all levels and water utilities to provide funds to implement water conservation awareness programmes and plans.

(vii)            Exchange experiences on public awareness, develop and adopt school and university education materials on water related issues that could be used nationwide.

(viii)           Review training needs for capacity building, including training of the trainers, for water conservation awareness and then carry out appropriate staff development.

(ix)              Set up a countrywide Internet website or provincial/city websites to share and disseminate information on issues related to the promotion of public awareness, water use efficiency and conservation.

(x)               Refer to the UNESCAP publication “Water Conservation: A Guide to Promoting Public Awareness” for the formulation and implementation of water conservation promotion programmes at the national and local levels.  The various steps mentioned in this guidebook should be carefully followed after localizing the approaches recommended in the book.

(xi)              Investigate various sources of funding to translate the UNESCAP publication  into the local languages, following the successful Iranian example of its translation into Farsi.

(xii)            Request UNESCAP and other international organizations to consider the possibility of setting up a multilingual website to promote exchange of experiences in water conservation and water use efficiency efforts.

(xiii)           Enhance regional cooperation through regional centers such as RCUWM-Tehran regarding public awareness practices, water conservation and water use efficiency, including relevant research and training.

Related Link:
   www.rcuwm.org.ir