IRC and partners are planning to make a significant impact at the 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto, Japan, as part of the process to support information and knowledge sharing in the developing world. The overall message is the need to bridge the knowledge gap between the North and South and between countries of the South. Governments need to invest in knowledge to improve water and sanitation.

Activities in Japan from 16-23 March 2003 include:

• Bridging the Knowledge Gap information booth
• Closing the Digital Divide session
• Responding to poverty
• Inputs is other sessions
• Gender in Court session

Bridging the Knowledge Gap information booth

Partners will use an information booth to showcase the value of information and knowledge sharing activities, resource centre strengthening, capacity building and networking. This booth is shared between the Streams of Knowledge coalition, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council and the IRC. The booth is next to the Gender and Water Alliance booth in the Event Hall. Contact person: Dick de Jong and Sascha de Graaf.

Closing the Digital Divide session

A session on Information and Knowledge Sharing for Safe Water and Sanitation in the Developing World will be held on 17 March 2003 from 12:30 to 15:15 in Room I, Kyoto International Conference Hall, (KICH). It is part of the theme Water Supply, Sanitation, Hygiene and Water Pollution.

IRC will be addressing the importance of knowledge sharing, some imminent problems and promising solutions. The session will include short presentations by partners from Burkina Faso, Colombia, and the Philippines, and from support agencies including UNESCO/IHE Water and Education Institute. It will be followed by a panel discussion under guidance of professor Segeren, former Director of IHE and Governing Board member of IRC. Contact person: Paul van Koppen and Dick de Jong.

The launch of the completely revised Small Community Water Supply is also scheduled for 17 March. VROM and IRC first published this bestselling book in 1981. A large part of its appeal has been that it is one of the few textbooks to link water supply science and technology with the specific needs of small communities in developing countries. Of the 28 authors, 15 are from the developing world. Two of them will be present during the launch. The 585 pages and 270 technical illustrations are available in all formats: on paper, on CD ROM and online (PDF 10.9 MB). Contact person: Sascha de Graaf.

Responding to poverty

Productive use of water at the household level by poor people reduces poverty. That is one of the key messages in the Statement on Poverty and Productive Uses of Water at the Household Level that emerged from an international symposium in South Africa from 21-23 January 2003. At the information booth and in various sessions partners will share their knowledge from this symposium, which was convened by the South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the UK Natural Resources Institute and IRC. Water and poverty is one of IRC's focus areas for knowledge development and advocacy in collaboration with others. Read the full statement.

Inputs in other session

IRC staff will also make inputs into other sessions, including:

• Water for People session: short input on Productive use of water at the household level by poor people reduces poverty, by Patrick Moriarty, 16-17 March.
• Water and Information Day sessions, convened by the American Water Resources Association, UNESCO and WaterWeb consortium, in Osaka:

Does information matter? Legal, economic, scientific & cultural perspectives on the role of information in water management and governance, Dick de Jong is co-chairing, 18 March 15:30 ? 18:15;

Challenges for Resource Centres in Water and Sanitation-related Knowledge Sharing, presentation by Dick de Jong, 19 March 08:45 ? 11:30.

• Water and Poverty session, 19 March 15:45 -18:30
• Water, A drop of oil in the economy, a Self Employed Women's Association session, presentation by Patrick Moriarty.
• Youth World Water Forum, Corinne Otte and Rosalie Castro, 18 and 20 March.

Gender in Court session

The Gender and Water Alliance puts three years of work on
'trial' on 17 March in a Gender in Court session.

The Alliance (its secretariat is hosted by IRC) will use the court to assess the results of three years of hard work to mainstream gender in water and sanitation policies, institutions, programmes and projects.

More than 200 people will attend this mock trial to analyse the impact of gender approaches in water and sanitation policies, institutions and programmes. A jury representing governments, private organisations, NGOs, independent experts, and international organisations will give their
'verdict' and make recommendations for further actions and commitments according to the strengths and weaknesses of the cases presented.

Gender in Court is from 09:00 to 16:00 at the Kyoto International Conference Hall, Room D, as part of the main
Gender session. Contact person: Jennifer Francis.

Tags: capacity development