4 May 2012: Side event 'UN-Water Report on Water Resources Management for Rio+20 Summit'. UN Headquarters, New York

UN-Water and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hosted a side event at the 2nd round of 'informal-informal' negotiations on the zero draft of the Rio+20 outcome document. The side event disclosed main results of the 'UN-Water Status Report on the Application of Integrated Approaches to Water Resource Management', which will be officially launched on 19 June on the occasion of the 'Water Day' at the Rio+20 Conference.

The side event presented results from a comprehensive global survey to-date on the 'application of integrated approaches to water resources development, management, and use', as called for in Rio in 1992. The survey was carried out during 2011/12 and more than 130 countries responded, with 30 countries providing detailed input. The survey provides an input to the preparation process for Rio+20, including how countries could set national targets for taking integrated approaches to water resources management (WRM) forward, and how this could be supported by a permanent monitoring framework on integrated approaches to WRM.

>> Side event summary
>> UN-Water at Rio+20
>> Press release [ – 43 KB]
>> Programme Agenda [ – 150 KB]

NEWS

Drive to 2015 slogan contest: end open defecation now!

We need a slogan to help kick off the Sanitation Drive to 2015 - a short and snappy catchphrase which will capture the campaign concept and spark curiosity and imagination. Share your creativity and help come up with a fantastic slogan to support the Drive's campaign to end open defecation! You can submit your slogan in any language. A Jury panel consisting of communication specialists from the key UN organizations behind the Drive to 2015 will select a winner. The contest closes on 10 June 2012 at midnight (GMT) so be sure to submit your slogan soon!

>> Submit your slogan

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Hungarian designer wins the Drop by Drop Youth Prize

25 April 2012 - Eszter Szigethy of Hungary has won the Youth Prize in the Drop by Drop Ad Competition for her entry Save Earthlings. In the introduction to her winning entry Szigethy wrote that as Noah protected the animals and plants with his ark, we should do the same "The water is our ark, because without it we can't exist. Therefore we have to save the most important element in our life."
The Drop by Drop Competition received 3,500 entries from 45 European countries. It was launched by UNRIC, the UN Regional Information Centre in Brussels, in collaboration with UNEP, the UN Environment Programme and UN information offices in Europe with the support of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Drop by Drop is part of the United Nations Secretary-General's campaign the Future We Want in the run up to the UN's Conference on Sustainable Development Rio+20 in Rio de Janeiro in June this year.

>> Drop by Drop website

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Winners for the 2012 edition of the UN-Water "Water for Life" Best Practices Award

22 March 2012 - The United Nations Office to Support the International Decade for Action "Water for Life" 2005-2015/UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) and the UN World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) are pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 edition of the UN-Water "Water for Life" Best Practices Award. The 2012 edition was awarded at a special ceremony during World Water Day in Rome, Italy, to the following initiatives: 'Protection of Bangalore Lakes for Posterity-Setting a Legal Precedent for Conservation of Lakes as Commons' and 'A communication strategy for social and behavior change through the promotion of three key practices and the adequate use of services in four municipalities of the Department of Cochabamba, Bolivia'.

>> Award web page

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Application period for Internship Programme

The United Nations Office to support the International Decade for Action 'Water for Life' 2005-2015 opens the application period for 2012-2013 internships. Deadline for applications for September to October 2012 internships is 15 June 2012.

>> Internship Programme
>> P11 form

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>> Archived news stories

EVENTS

Side event on 'From World Water Day 2012 to the International Year of Water Cooperation 2013'

9 May 2012 - On the occasion of World Water Day 2012, UN-Water in collaboration with the government of Tajikistan held a side event on the theme 'From World Water Day 2012 - Water and food security - to the International Year of Water Cooperation 2013'.
This was a high level event with participants including UN General Assembly President, H.E. Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, Deputy UN Secretary-General, Asha-Rose Migiro, H.E. Ambassador Sirodjidin M. Aslov, Permanent Representative of Tajikistan, H.E. Mr. Sulton Rahimove, H.E. First Deputy Minister of Melioration and Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan, and Ms. Kenza Kaouakib-Robinson, Secretary UN-Water.
The President of the General Assembly recognized that the UN system plays an important role in helping countries achieve the goals envisaged in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI), and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and highlighted the need to strengthen the Water for Life Decade. "Water is life, without water there can be no future, he concluded."

>> Video on session
>> Summary of side event [ - 51 KB]

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UN Water Dialogue Series in Casa Solans. Zaragoza, Spain

27 April 2012 - Aimed at facilitating and promoting dialogue among the UN system and stakeholders at local level, UNW-DPAC organizes the UN Water Dialogue Series in Casa Solans. The 1st dialogue took place on 7 February and addressed the issue of the human right to water and sanitation. The 2nd dialogue, on 16 April, focused on water issues in the forthcoming Rio+20 Summit.

>> 1st dialogue summary report
>> 2nd dialogue summary report

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UN Water Talks. Delft, Netherlands

24 April 2012 - UNESCO-IHE, in cooperation with the City of Delft and Delfland Water Board, hosted the UN Water Talks. This year's talk was held by the UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova. She reflected on the role of the United Nations and UNESCO in mediation and conflict negotiation, and specifically, on the current state of water diplomacy.

>> UN Water Talks

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>> Archived events stories