Why was FAN at the 4th World Water Forum?
International meetings offer opportunities for civil society to come out of the field and their local environments and be involved at the international level, to share their local experiences and influence policies. The learning potential is high with many opportunities for south-south learning and forging relationships with other organisations working on similar issues through networking with diverse actors outside of the meeting rooms.
Advocacy and policy influencing should not be the preserve of the big international organisations; our work allows smaller, often marginalised, organisations to play their role. CSO participation in the Forum aims to progress the commitments made previously, particularly the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, UN Commission on Sustainable Development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to ensure that good decisions are not reversed, but kept to the forefront of discussions within the sector.
NGOs are very diverse and dont speak or act with one voice. The theme and scale of 4th World Water Forum created a role for us to support NGO participation in all aspects of the Forum that respected the differing perspectives and strengths of CSOs by creating different spaces for participating, dialogue and showcasing their work from around the world.
We worked hard to create space for CSOs at the World Water Forum in Mexico, March 2006 and secured five CSO sessions in total. We were delighted to be able to support and facilitate the participation of a diverse group of over 25 members of civil society from three continents and would like to thank the Mexican Government for providing funding.
Read the timetable of activities that FAN, FANCA, ANEW and FAN-Mex members were involved in during the Forum in our special leaflet. The document is in English and Espaol (1MB)
We hope that our members experiences will be respected as important contributions to sustainable progress, focusing on the needs of people living poverty and on protecting the environment. Their actions are in urgent need of support if we are to address the global water crisis.
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