Public Water for All

Public Water for All
Symposium on Improving Public Water Delivery - Mexico City
Venue: Auditorio No.3 of the "Unidad de Congresos del Centro Médico"
Located in the Av. Cuauhtemoc No.330 Col. Doctores C.P. 06720.
Date: Wednesday, 15 March 2006

Download this programme as PDF in Spanish and English

This symposium (on the eve of the Fourth World Water Forum) aims to bring together public water
managers, civil society activists, academics and unionists from around the world to exchange experiences with reforms to improve the effectiveness, responsiveness and social achievements of public water utilities. An important focus of the symposium will be the potential of Public-Public Partnerships to accelerate improvements in access to clean water and sanitation. The symposium is a pre-event of the International Forum in the Defense of Water (17-19 March - parallel to the Fourth World Water Forum) hosted by Coalicion de Organizaciones Mexicanas por el Derecho al Agua (COMDA). For more information, see www.comda.org.mx.

Programme

Welcome coffee [09:00-09:30]

Welcome by COMDA and CEO [09:30-10:00]

Session I. Successful Public Water Models [10:00-12:00]

What are the main ‘secrets’ behind successful public water delivery in cities in Latin America, Asia, Europe and elsewhere?

Panelists:

• Silvano da Costa, National Association of Municipal Water and Sanitation Services
  (ASSEMAE), Brazil
• Abimanyu, Director of PDAM Solo and Secretary General of the PDAM Association,
  Indonesia
• Michel Partage, Mayor of Varages, France
• Speaker from Mexico (to be confirmed)

Facilitator: Suresh Saila, Tamil Nadu State Advisor on Food Security to the Supreme Court of India

Lunch Break [12:00-13:30]

Session II. Reforms - Towards Improved Public Water [13:30-15:30]

What are the main difficulties in reforming public water operations and how to overcome
these obstacles?

Panelists:

• Vibhu Nayar, Project Director, Tamil Nadu Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project
  (TNRWSSP), India
• Guillermo Amorebieta, Water and Sanitation Works Trade Union of the Province of
  Buenos Aires (SOSBA), Argentina
• Santiago Arconada, Water Technical Tables, Venezuela
• Julián Pérez, Federation of Neighbourhood Committees (FEJUVE), El Alto, Bolivia

Facilitator: Carlos Santos, REDES – Friends of the Earth Uruguay

Coffee Break [15:30-16:00]

Session III. The Potential of Public-Public Partnerships [16:00-18:00]

How can Public-Public Partnerships between water operators contribute optimally to
achieving improvements in water delivery? What are obstacles and potential pitfalls?

Panelists:

• Paul A.C. Bonné, Manager International Co-operation, Amsterdam Waternet, The
  Netherlands
• Steen Bjerggaard, Stockholm Water Company, Sweden
• Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of Hue City Company for environmental and public works,
  Vietnam
• Catherine Legna, France Libertés, France

Facilitator: Vicky Cann, World Development Movement (WDM), United Kingdom

Closing remarks by COMDA and CEO [18:00-18:15]

Organisers: Transnational Institute (TNI), Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), Coalicion de Organizaciones Mexicanas por el Derecho al Agua (COMDA), Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), SOBREVIVENCIA (Friends of the Earth Paraguay), Friends of the Earth France, Council of Canadians, World Development Movement (WDM), Bread for the World, and numerous other groups from the
'Reclaiming Public Water' (RPW) network, a new global coalition promoting alternatives to water
privatisation.

See also: Madrid Report

Attending the symposium is free of charge. Participants should register in advance (before Friday, March 10th 2006).

For more information and to register, contact Satoko Kishimoto: satoko@tni.org

Lunch will be arranged by organisers at the venue. We appreciate your contribution for the costs of the lunch.