Opening Plenary Session and High Level Panel

Monday 18 August

Some of the world’s top experts in water and development will participate during the Opening Plenary Day at the start of the 2008 World Water Week in Stockholm. International leaders and representatives from the academic world, the private sector and civil society will offer insights into this year’s theme, Progress and Prospects on Water: For a Clean and Healthy World – with Special Focus on Sanitation, from their respective points of view.

Resolving the ongoing sanitation crisis and cross-cutting water challenges will be in focus for the welcoming speeches that will set the stage for the activities and discussions taking place throughout the week. The provision of sanitation and hygiene for all; reducing the corporate water footprint; and sanitation in Integrated Water Resources Manangement are among the topics of key note presentations that will precede this year’s High Level Panel.

The Opening Day Plenary also presents an opportunity to listen to the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate, Professor John Anthony Allan, whose work in defining and introducing the concept of “virtual water” has been groundbreaking.

Morning Session          10:00-12:00, Victoria Hall

	Chair: Ms. Cecilia Martinsen, Project Director, Stockholm International Water Institute
10:00	Performance by St. Jakobs Choir, Directed by Mr. Gary Graden, Sweden
10:15	Welcome to the 2008 World Water Week Mr. Anders Berntell, Executive Director, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
10.25	Opening Address of the 2008 World Water Week Hon. Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for International Development Cooperation, Sweden
10:40	Welcome to Stockholm – the City on Water Mr. Sten Nordin, Mayor of Stockholm
10:55	IYS – Sanitation and Hygiene for All H.R.H Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Chair of UNSGAB
11:15	Water and Sanitation in Madagascar H.E Marc Ravalomanana, President of Madagascar
11:35	2008 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate Lecture: Knowing Water and Understanding Why We Use and Consume It as We Do Prof. Anthony Allan, King’s College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies
12:00	Lunch

Afternoon Session          13:30-17:00, Victoria Hall       

	Chair: Prof. Jan Lundqvist, Chair of the World Water Week Scientific Programme Committee, SIWI
13:30	Introduction to WWW Synthesis Process and Rapporteurs Prof. Jan Lundqvist, SIWI and Ms. Cecilia Martinsen, SIWI
13:40	Changing Behaviour – the Missing Link in Sanitation Dr. Kamal Kar, Development Consultant, India
14.00	Sanitation and Pollution Abatement in IWRM Dr. Letitia A. Obeng, Chair, Global Water Partnership
14.20	Life Support – Water, Ecosystems and Health Mr. James P. Leape, Director General WWF, International
14:40	The Corporate Water Footprint – What Can We Do to Decrease It? Mr. José Lopez, Executive Vice President, Nestlé
15:00	Coffee Break
15:30	High Level Panel, see below
17:00	End of Opening Plenary Day

High Level Panel: For a Clean and Healthy World – The Role of Sanitation for the MDGs

With more than two and half billion people lacking access to safe sanitation and 5,000 children under age five dying every day as a result, the chronic underinvestment in sanitation and hygiene is both illogical and indefensible. The United Nations declaration of 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation has called on governments, organisations and actors to secure real commitments and develop and strengthen institutional and human capacity in sanitation and hygiene.

Inadequate access to safe sanitation has long been regarded by many policy makers as a symptom of poverty while the role that investing in safe sanitation and improved health and hygiene plays as a driver of poverty reduction has been ignored. Considerable evidence shows that sanitation and hygiene interventions are cost-effective policy options that serve to secure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. Investing in sanitation and hygiene is not only about saving human lives and dignity; it is the foundation for investing in human development.

As sanitation, health and hygiene issues fundamentally impact all efforts to achieve the MDGs, cross-sectoral collaboration between the full range of development spheres is needed to push the sanitation agenda forward.

The High Level Panel will provide insight and recommendations on how to better integrate sanitation and health into the greater development agenda and will thereby contribute signifi cantly to the overall theme of the World Water Week and provide input to the workshops and seminars that will take place during the week.

High Level Panel           15:30-17-00, Victoria Hall

	Moderator: Mr. Jon Lane, Executive Director, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)
	Panellists:
	H.E. Marc Ravalomanana, President of Madagascar
	Hon. Mamphono Khaketla, Minister of Education and Training, Lesotho
	Mr. Anders Nordström, Director General, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
	Dr. Nicholas Alipui, Director of Programmes, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
	Mr. James P. Leape, Director General, WWF International
	Dr. Maximilian Martin, Global Head, Philanthropy Services, UBS, Switzerland

Presentation from the event

Please scroll down and find the link from the programme