Event Announcement

The Right to Water:
The Kyoto Agenda and Beyond 

Hosted by:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
and Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA)

Date:     Monday, 21 April 2003

Time:    12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
(Lunch will be provided)

Place:   Revelle Room, AAAS
1200 New York Ave. NW, Washington, DC
Closest Metro: Metro Center (blue, orange, and red lines: 12^th & G St. Exit, and walk one block north)

RSVP: Online at: http://shr.aaas.org/water or by emailing jsanders@aaas.org

Please RSVP by Friday 19 April 2003. Space is limited.

In March 2003, the third World Water Forum was held in Kyoto, Japan.  The Kyoto Conference drew more than 24,000 participants from 182 countries to address key issues on how to ensure access to safe water and sanitation.  Offering 351 separate sessions on 38 themes, the international conference resulted in more than 100 agreements.  The Ministerial Declaration issued at the conclusion of the Kyoto Conference proclaims: “Water is a driving force for sustainable development including environmental integrity, and the eradication of poverty and hunger, indispensable for human health and welfare.”  The Kyoto Ministerial Declaration embraces the target established in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015 and the target established in the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development to halve the proportion of people without access to basic and adequate sanitation by 2015.  The Ministerial Document, however, stopped short of affirming water as a human right.

This event will provide an opportunity for organizations that attended the Kyoto Conference and those interested in sustainable development, water equity issues, environment, and human rights issues to exchange ideas on the implications of the Kyoto Conference and discuss future ways for organizations to collaborate on these issues.

The first session will be a panel discussion with speakers discussing the Kyoto Conference from the scientific, environmental, and human rights perspectives.  Each panelist will assess the impact of the conference and the Ministerial Declaration.  There will be a brief question and answer period after the panel.  The second session will be an open discussion among all participants to determine priorities for water equity issues and possible future opportunities for collaboration among the groups active on these issues. 

Introduction & Welcome

Audrey R. Chapman
Director, Science and Human Rights Program
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Session 1: The implications of the Kyoto Conference (12:00-1:30)

Human Rights Perspective:                        
Juan Picolotti
Legal Advisor
Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA)

Public Participation Perspective:
Carl Bruch
Director, Public Interest Program
Environmental Law Institute

Scientific Perspective:
Craig Schiffries
Senior Scientist
National Council for Science and the Environment                                               

Environmental Perspective:
Leslie Fields
Director of International Programs
Friends of the Earth International 

Session 2: Beyond Kyoto: Priorities for policymaking, advocacy, and future collaboration (1:30-3:00)

Open discussion                    
Facilitated by:
Karin M. Krchnak
Manager, Population & Environment
National Wildlife Federation

 

Please RSVP by Friday 19 April 2003. Space is limited.
RSVP: Online at: http://shr.aaas.org/water or by emailing jsanders@aaas.org

 

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Note: This event is not sponsored by CitNet, and is announced here as a public service.