Water crisis is even more dangerous than the much debated energy crisis according to Professor Klaus Topfer, United Nations Under Secretary General and Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) "Unlike the energy crisis, the water crisis is life threatening," says Professor Topfer. "Unlike oil, freshwater has no viable substitute. Its depletion in quantity and quality has profound social, economic and ecological effects."

To find solutions to the world's water crisis, hectic preparations are underway in Bonn, Germany-former Capital and city of the master musician Ludwig Van Beethoven. A conference on Freshwater related issues from 3-7 December will be held at the International Congress Centre--formerly the German Federal Parliament Building-- bringing under one roof senior members of Governments, International Organizations such as the United Nations, Non-Governmental Organizations and the Private Sector. Approximately 2000 people are expected to discuss global water issues with the aim of developing a new paradigm for sustainable and equitable access to clean water for the poor.

"This conference serves as a preparatory step on freshwater issues for the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002," said Franz-Josef Batz, Head of the Conference Secretariat. "The main objective is to develop recommendations for the Summit on water and sustainable development issues."

"We expect 70 percent of the participants from the developing countries and rest from the developed nations," adds Manfred Konukiewitz, Head of the Water, Human Settlements and Infrastructure Division at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. This is an optimal mix according to him as he would like to see the conference focus predominantly on the problems of the developing countries.

Some of the key thematic issues discussed will be innovative strategies for providing water and sanitation for the poor, balancing water uses for food and nature, transboundary water issues, coping with floods and droughts due to climate change and integrating gender perspectives into water management.

According to Jurgen Trittin, Federal Minister of Germany for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety," The topic of water is so critical that it needs to be urgently addressed as it cuts across a nation's foreign, economic, environment, and development policies."

In recognition of this, the Freshwater Conference will bring to light cross cutting issues of water governance, mobilizing financial resources and capacity development and technology transfer.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development is of the view that it is time to transform sustainable development from a political concept to real world success. This is the first time that both Ministries are jointly hosting the Conference.

"We hope our efforts serve as a model to other nations for the need of Ministries to work together to formulate a meaningful and integrated national water management strategy," said Dagmara Berbalk, Co-Chair, German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety.

The Freshwater Conference overlaps with the other major Conference taking place in this city-the meeting held under the auspice of the United Nations for the establishment of a post-Taliban Government in Afghanistan. While the decision to hold the Afghan Conference was fairly recent, the Freshwater Conference preparations have been going on for a while in this city.

Bonn was selected to be the venue for the Freshwater Conference for multiple reasons.

The German Government offered to host this conference in 1998 at the 6th meeting of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. "Bonn is also an important UN location," said Dr. Konukiewitz. "The organization has several offices here, the largest one being the Secretariat for the Climate Change Convention-UNFCCC."

The Bonn Conference also aims to contribute to the fulfilment of the water related International Development Target. The United Nations Millennium Assembly of September 2000 resolved to halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of people who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water.

Although this is a very challenging target, some say that it is achievable.

"This is a realistic goal," says Dr. Konukiewitz. "We know what it will take to get there, the question is of political will and mobilizing financial resources."

Responding to the differences in challenges between the North and South countries with regard to water, Dr. Konukiewitz said, "A great need is present in developing countries to incentive the private sector to extend the service and make it more efficient. In most Western countries especially across Europe, public water sector is very strong .In contrast the developing nations suffer from a weak and sometimes corrupt public sector with scarce resources. Providing water to the poor in these circumstances becomes extremely unviable.

In fact how the private sector can work with the public sector to play a key role in the water industry will be discussed at length during the conference."

Another difference is regarding the conservation of water. Even though water is scarce in developing countries, it is often wasted. One reason is that it is often free, so that there is no incentive to conserve it. Political considerations often keep water prices low than is advisable and stand in the way of reforms. Low water prices mean that public water utilties in developing countries often lack funds to employ well-qualified staff or maintain water supply systems adequately. Both these factors are a cause of water shortages in developing countries.

Further the nature of problems in the Western nations are not so much of shortage or accessibilty as of qulaity of water. In fact, the Mayor of Bonn, Barbel Dieckmann, comments, "We have less to deal with the consequences of desertification or the lack of water than with the contrary: rather regularly, the river Rhine bursts its banks, flooding riverside roads and paths with its brownish water."

Dr. Konukiewitz couldn't agree more. "We have done a lot in 20 years but we still need to adress some big issues. We have to learn to tackle flood control better. Also, the groundwater quality in regions where we have intensive agriculture needs to be improved. Water has got contaminted here due to pesticides and other nutrients introduced into the soil which then leaks into the water."

Still there is no doubt that the developing countries have a long way to go before they can match the water resource management of the developed world. Also they seem to have a lot more at stake as most of them are still agrarian economies and water is key to food production and farmer livelihoods. Consider these statistics: Agricultural water consumption in developing countries is 85 percent compared to 42 percent utlization of water by the agriculture sector.

Differences also exist amongst developing and industrialized nations with regards to gender issues pertaining to water.

In most developing countries, women have the most direct contact with water and posess comprehensive traditional knowledge concerning water use and resource preservation: women are responsible for providing freshwater at household level and for agricultural activities of their families and communities as a result of traditional gender roles. Questions such as water availabilty, quality, portability and simple storage methods are part of their daily life.

Yet, despite their critical role women suffer most from water-related constraints in developing countries. The impact of increasing water scarcity has made women travel longer and unsafe distances.

"A more gender balanced approach to water resource management has emerged as a key issue over the last decade and will be discussed in-depth at the freshwater conference," comments Dr. Konukiewitz.

Governments, local communities, the private sector and civil society will come together this week in Bonn to discuss new, innovative and wholistic approaches to water management.

The success of this conference, some say, will depend on how much the delegates can focus on areas of consensus. Water is as much a dividing issue as a bridging issue. Also,what realistic policy or fiscal action groups will and can take on returning home will decide whether a dent can be made in the overwhelmingly dismal water statistics. Whatever the outcome of the conference in Bonn, one thing is certain: The global community cannot ignore the water crisis and has begun to take baby steps to remedy the problem.