5th World Water Forum

Local and Regional Authorities General Assembly

Istanbul, 19 March 2009

Elements for the address of Gaye Doganoglu, Chair of the Committee on Sustainable Development of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Let me begin by saying that I am honoured to address the participants in the Local and Regional Authorities General Assembly on behalf of the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

It is a great honour for me to represent the position of local and regional authorities of the continent of Europe at this 5th World Water Forum. The Council of Europe Congress is an organisation which brings together representatives of more than 200,000 communities from 47 European countries, from Reykjavik to Ankara, and from Lisbon to Vladivostok.

I welcome the opportunity for local and regional authorities of the world to have their voice heard by governments, parliaments, civil society and other players in water management. It was at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City in March 2006 that local and regional authorities were recognised for the first time as important stakeholders in this complex and global issue.

The Council of Europe Congress has been very involved in lobbying for this recognition as the effective protection and sustainable use of water resources is feasible only on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity, that is to say with the involvement of all tiers of authority and local communities.

Through its recent recommendations on public water and sewer services for sustainable development, the Congress has reasserted the fundamental role local and regional authorities should play in water governance as well as in the international process relating to water.

Today, we have the opportunity to reaffirm this recognition and to provide our own joint input through the Istanbul Water Consensus for Local and Regional Authorities. Our position must be coordinated, shared and united if we are to be accepted as a force to be reckoned with.

Indeed, the growing shortage and unequal distribution of water resources and poor sanitation threaten not only the long-term supply of clean water but also the economic development of regions, countries and the environment as a whole.

But today the global water management crisis is aggravated by the international financial and economic crisis. Against this background, the role of municipalities and regions and their authorities is becoming more evident. In water management, much as in economic and financial management, thanks to their proximity, they are best placed to be aware of the needs of their communities, capable of ensuring optimal use of local resources and be held more accountable before the citizens than at national level.

The data of recent years show that local and regional authorities have demonstrated a by far better financial performance in local asset management than their national counterparts in public borrowing and spending. It is our argument therefore that public control, including over water resources management, can best be exercised at local and regional level, which is why legal responsibility for this management and for the delivery of water and sewer services must be delegated to local and regional authorities, together with the freedom to choose the management model best suited for their communities.

It is also why we call on Local and Regional Authorities to accede to the Istanbul Water Consensus and formally undertake to develop actions for its practical implementation.

Moreover, water has been undoubtedly a key concern for humankind since the mists of time. But today, in the face of the urgent challenges of our societies, water needs our help; it needs to be much better managed. The debate is no longer technological as solutions are multiplying, but of a political order with financial, legal, institutional and educative components.

We have to work together towards the adoption of a global water policy with concrete objectives as is the case for climate change. We urgently need a water diplomacy and I hope that the cause of water will make great progress from now on.

It is only with our political will, with resolute action in our towns, cities and regions and with a determined engagement that we will succeed. We need to continue to nurture the opportunities for cooperation on this urgent issue because we, local and regional authorities, share today the responsibility for managing the world’s waters for current and future generations.

The Congress will continue to support the concrete involvement of local and regional authorities because, along with their commitment, they are the guarantee for success.  And I would like to very warmly congratulate the first cities signatories of the Istanbul Consensus.