The FAO-ESCAP pilot project on national water visions. From vision ...

2. National consultation on water sector mapping and visioning
<strong>The</strong> National Consultation on Water Sector Mapping and Visioning held on 12 May 1999 at
the ADB headquarters was the first activity undertaken in the Philippines towards the
formulation of a national vision. Its conclusions were to contribute to a regional report on
water sector mapping and vision for Southeast Asia, a major <strong>project</strong> of the Global Water
Partnership (GWP) in collaboration with the World Water Council (WWC). Similar reports
were under preparation for South Asia, China, Africa, South America and Eastern Europe to
address the various issues on water resources management; in turn, they were to contribute to
the global reports of GWP and WWC, which were to be presented to the Second World
Water Forum in March 2000 in <strong>The</strong> Hague.
<strong>The</strong> GWP thrust is on integrated water resources management (IWRM), which aims to ensure
the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources by
maximizing economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of vital
environmental systems. Thus, the one-day national consultation meeting on IWRM for the
Philippines was convened to arrive at a consensus on:
• the priority issues in IWRM in the country for which strategic assistance is required;
• the availability in the country of service providers or expertise to address the priority
issues;
• the gaps in the expertise available in the country;
• the national vision for water, life and the environment in 2025; and
• a national framework for action to attain the vision.
<strong>The</strong> Philippine meeting was divided into two parts: mapping exercises and visioning
exercises. In this <strong>project</strong>, mapping was defined as identifying the needs for strategic
assistance in IWRM and assessing the availability of service providers or expertise to address
those needs. Service providers could be university institutes, research and consultancy
organizations, UN specialized agencies, external support agencies, government institutions,
individuals or publications. Strategic assistance can be seen as assistance to the process of
decision-making on the management of water resources, including setting the framework for
these decisions. <strong>The</strong> mode of assistance may take the following forms:
• advice on approach
• policy dialogue and awareness
• synthesized knowledge and information
• research and development
• capacity building
Visioning, on the other hand, consists of consultations with the stakeholders in the
Philippines on their vision of water, life and the environment in 2025 and the development of
a framework for action to attain the vision. Among the issues addressed on visioning are:
• scenarios and key drivers presented by the vision team
• desirable short-, medium- and long-term outcome
• acceptable/effective/workable tools for action
• practical options available to address priority problems
• suggested policy tools to attain the desired outcome
• acceptable trade-offs
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