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Lucia A Keegan  08/08/2006 09:45:35 AM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

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UNCLAS        PARIS 05341

SIPDIS
cxparis:
    ACTION: UNESCO
    INFO:   AMBO DCM SCI ECON AMBU AMB POL

DISSEMINATION: UNESCOX
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: CHARGE: AKOSS
DRAFTED: SCI: NCOOPER
CLEARED: NONE

VZCZCFRI702
PP RUEHC RUEHGV RUCNDT RUEHZN
DE RUEHFR #5341/01 2191620
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071620Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0180
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2465
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0852
INFO RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 PARIS 005341 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM USMISSION UNESCO PARIS 
 
STATE FOR IO/UNESCO KEVIN PILZ, OES BARRIE RIPIN, OES/STATS ANDREW 
¶W. REYNOLDS, OES/ETC ELEANORE FOX 
STATE FOR NSC GENE WHITNEY 
STATE FOR NSF INTERNATIONAL OFFICE 
STATE FOR NASA ELIZABETH WILLIAMS 
STATE FOR USAID FRANKLIN MOORE, MARY ROWEN, CHIP BARBER, AND MIKE 
MCGAHUEY 
USAID FOR VERNE SCHNEIDER, GEORGE COAKLEY AND RICHARD CALNAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: UNESCO KS AORC TSPL EAID KSCI SENV SOCI
SUBJECT: USG Delegation Report on 17th Meeting of the UNESCO 
International Hydrology Program (IHP Intergovernmental Council (IGC) 
Paris, France - July 3-7, 2006 
 
¶1. A US delegation participated in the 17th meeting of the UNESCO 
International Hydrology Program (IHP) Intergovernmental Council 
(IGC) at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, July 3-7, 2006.  The 
delegation consisted of: Mathew C. Larsen, U.S. Geological Survey 
(head of delegation), Verne R. Schneider, U.S. Geological Survey; 
Robert A. Pietrowsky, U.S. Army Institute for Water Resources; Pat 
Brezonik, National Science Foundation; Nancy Cooper, U.S. Mission to 
UNESCO, and Louise Oliver, U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO. 
 
¶2. Delegation Member Roles. Although the U.S. is not a current 
member of the 36 Member Nation IGC, the 17th meeting of the IHP IGC 
was the second attended by the USG with official observer status and 
the first with representation by the newly reconstituted U.S. 
National Committee for the IHP. 
 
-M. Larsen (USGS) served as the U.S. principal delegate and 
spokesperson throughout the IGC plenary sessions, including the 
technical focus on IHP programs relating to sedimentation. 
 
-V. Schneider (USGS) provided operational continuity and 
institutional knowledge from previous IGC meetings, and technical 
support, while also serving as Dr. Larsen's alternate. 
 
-R. Pietrowsky (USACE IWR) served as an advisor on issues pertaining 
to the IHE Delft Category I Center, the ICHARM Category II Center, 
the strategic plan of IHP VII, and IHP programs relating to flooding 
and integrated water resources management (IWRM). Pat Brezonik (NSF) 
served as an advisor for topics related to the strategy for UNESCO 
water centers and proposed Category II water centers. As science 
officer at the U.S. Mission to UNESCO, Nancy Cooper communicated and 
represented the interests of the Mission at the meeting and advised 
on the implications of the broader USG goals for UNESCO with regard 
to IHP. 
 
¶3.  Objectives. The goals of USG participation in the 17th IGC were 
to (a) raise the level of engagement and visibility of the USG in 
UNESCO activities, and to (b) meaningfully influence IHP IGC 
decisions to better align with USG strategic objectives for UNESCO 
in water, natural sciences and engineering.  USG objectives include: 
 
 
a. Building capacity through training/education, and encouraging 
sound integrated water resources management in support of 
international stability, reconstruction and economic development 
with specific focus on "sustainable use and access to safe drinking 
water and improved watershed management."  This goal is tied to the 
MDG to halve by 2015 the percent of people without sustainable 
access to safe drinking water. 
 
b. To promote cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary collaboration and 
integration of UNESCO natural science and technical programs, 
leveraging capacity building, education, and training, and enhancing 
scientific and engineering capacities to address the problems of the 
natural and manmade world. This goal is aimed at re-directing UNESCO 
science programs to emphasize practical engineering applications to 
build capacity as means to reduce poverty, improve health and 
stimulate development. 
 
c. The incorporation of science and engineering in all UNESCO 
programs, especially its education programs. This goal is 
fundamental to USG desire to foster a cross-sectoral approach across 
various UNESCO programs. 
 
¶4.  Background.  The context of the participation of the USG 
Delegation, particularly Larsen, Brezonik and Pietrowsky, aligns 
with their role on the recently established U.S. National 
(International Hydrological Program) IHP Committee. The U.S. 
National IHP Committee was established under the auspices of the 
U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, a Federal Advisory Body of the 
U.S. Department of State.  The committee held its inaugural meeting 
on 1 May 2006.  It includes representation from globally recognized 
agencies and other prominent U.S. scientists, including those drawn 
from six Federal agencies based on their expertise and interest in 
water resources sciences and water management.  The six 
participating Federal agencies are: the National Aeronautic and 
Space Agency; the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric 
Administration (Department of Commerce); the National Science 
Foundation; the U.S. Agency for International Development; and U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers; and the U.S. Geological Survey (Department 
of the Interior). 
¶5.  In addition to the Federal members, the Committee includes nine 
members representing organizations with expertise in water 
resources, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 
university departments, professional societies/associations, and 
trade/industry associations.  The water resources specialists from 
the nine participating institutions include Dr. James Shuttleworth, 
University of Arizona Science and Technology Center for 
Sustainability of Semi-Arid Hydrology and Riparian Areas (SAHRA). 
¶6.  The function of the U.S. National IHP Committee is to advise the 
U.S. National Commission on: 
a) Recommendations on U.S. participation in UNESCO IHP, and 
assisting upon request in the formulation and review of other UNESCO 
international water resources activities; 
b) Providing advice on domestic and international activities related 
to UNESCO programs that advance research, education, or training in 
water resources sciences or the application of water resources 
sciences to specific problems; 
c) Recommending U.S. programs for participation in the UNESCO IHP; 
and 
d) Providing advice to organizations involved in U.S. participation 
in UNESCO international water resources activities. 
¶7.  Focus of 17th IHP IGC Meeting.  Key topics addressed during the 
IGC meeting included: 
 
a) IHP governance 
b) Role of the UNESCO IHE Delft - Institute for Water Education 
c) Need for a UNESCO cross-sectoral strategy for water education 
d) Proposals for the establishment of new UNESCO water centers, and 
 
e) Strategy for how existing and proposed IHP water centers should 
contribute to overall IHP capacity building goals. 
f) Reports on current and planned UNECSO IHP programs, including: 
Hydrology for Environment, Life and Policy (HELP), Flow Regimes from 
International Experimental and Network Data (FRIEND) 
g) International Sedimentation Initiative (ISI) 
h) International Flood Initiative (IFI) 
i) Review of the draft strategic plan for conducting the seventh 
phase of IHP.  The proposed focus of IHP-VII is on five critical 
wide water themes: 
i) Implications of Globalization and Climate Change 
ii) Integrated Water Resources Mgt. (IWRM) within the Watershed 
Context 
iii) Water Governance 
iv) Environmental Sustainability 
v) Water Education 
 
¶8. Key Interactions. The delegation met with the U.S. Ambassador to 
UNESCO Louise Oliver who  emphasized to the Delegation the USG 
objective of integrating capacity building, education, and 
engineering with water in UNESCO's overall science strategy.  The 
delegation participated in numerous discussions with representatives 
of the U.S. Mission to UNESCO, the IHP Secretariat, Group I Member 
Nation representatives (Western Europe, U.S., Canada, Turkey and 
Israel), the Director of UNESCO-IHE Delft, meetings on the 
International Flood Initiative (IFI), IHP Category I and II Centers, 
the HELP program, and with other key UNESCO staff.  Two delegation 
members (Larsen and Schneider) also attended the 8th Kovacs 
Colloquium held June 30 - July 1, 2006, which also included a 
presentation on Hurricane Katrina by Eugene Stakhiv, USACE IWR. 
 
¶9. USG Accomplishments and Major Outcomes.  The council meeting 
included several highly visible USG activities, which, in concert 
with active delegation participation during the IGC plenary 
sessions,  showcased USG engagement. Key USG-related 
activities/outcomes included: 
 
a) Professor W. James Shuttleworth, University of Arizona - 
Director, Center for Sustainability of Semi-Arid Hydrology and 
Riparian Areas (SAHRA), received the prestigious International 
Hydrologic Prize at a ceremony held during the IGC.  The Prize is 
awarded by the International Association of Hydrologic Sciences 
(IAHS) for "outstanding contribution to hydrology such as confers on 
the candidate universal recognition of their international stature." 
 Dr. Shuttleworth, who is also a member of the U.S. National IHP 
Committee, received the award based on "his innovative, 
international leadership over more than thirty years, contributing 
to the growth of hydrology into a major discipline of Earth System 
Science". A U.S. recipient has received the prize only five times in 
the last 25 years. 
 
b) Signing ceremonies were held for two USG Memoranda of 
Understanding (MOU's) establishing partnering agreements between the 
USACE-IWR and two UNESCO Category II Centers, one with the Japanese 
"International Centre for Water Hazard and Flood Risk Management" 
(ICHARM) in Tsukuba, and a second with the "Center for Arid and 
Semi-Arid Zones in Latin America and the Caribbean" (CAZALAC) 
located in Chile. 
 
c) USG nominated candidates were appointed to serve on advisory 
boards for two UNESCO IHP Centers: 
Robert Pietrowsky, USACE-IWR was appointed as the IHP Group I member 
of the Governing Board of the Category I IHE-Delft UNESCO Institute 
for Water Education. Eugene Stakhiv was appointed to the advisory 
board of the Category II International Centre for Water Hazard and 
Flood Risk Management (ICHARM). 
 
d) The USG delegation influenced and impacted a number of activities 
that had broader impacts on UNESCO water, science and engineering 
objectives.  In particular, the Member States stressed the need for 
a more results-oriented agenda. To this end, the IGC: 
 
e) Decided to set up a small group (including the IHP Secretary) to 
review the IHP water centers and plot a strategy for how these 
centers should contribute to overall IHP capacity building goals. At 
the insistence of the US Delegation, the panel -- to be named by the 
Director General -- will also include two outside independent 
experts; 
 
f) Discarded the IHP Secretariat's proposal to set up an unnecessary 
bureaucratic layer (i.e., regional intergovernmental councils), 
instead asked the Bureau to study other possible governance options. 
 In particular, the USG delegation worked informally, behind the 
scene, with its Group I counterparts to effectively counter a move 
that would have committed the IGC at this meeting to establish the 
regional councils without appropriate consideration of legal and 
financial ramifications; Reinforced the need for greater fiscal 
transparency of IHP programs and a stronger link between the IHP 
budget and program outcomes and results; 
 
g) In order to ensure continued input of Member States, stopped 
short of adopting the strategic plan for the 7th phase of the IHP 
program, meant to coincide with the new UNESCO medium-term strategy 
(2008-13); 
 
h) Requested the IHP Secretariat to promote cross-sectoral 
collaboration among the various programs and organizations involved 
in water-related hazard mitigation, with the USACE MOU with ICHARM 
and the USG desire to collaborate specifically noted; 
 
i) Launched a new cross-sectoral program on water education for 
sustainable development at all levels, in response to the request of 
Member States at the IHP Executive Board.  A panel will be 
established to develop a strategy and guide the work for this 
initiative. 
 
j) The delegation (N. Cooper and R. Pietrowsky) met with Richard 
Meganck, Director of UNESCO-IHE Delft to discuss (1) strategies for 
more closely aligning IHE's strategic goals with UNESCO 
cross-sectoral programs on water education for sustainable 
development at all levels in accord with the Mid-Term strategy for 
the Education Sector, and (2) alternatives to foster IHE access to 
UNESCO fellowships across UNESCO education programs as a stimulus to 
further USG goals for education and engineering capacity building. 
 
 
k) The delegation (M. Larsen and V. Schneider) led USG interactions 
at multiple IHP Group I meetings, contributing ideas and reinforcing 
the Group's strategic and tactical direction where consistent with 
USG objectives. Group I Member Nation representatives generally 
expressed a welcoming and heightened expectation that the USG return 
to UNESCO will stimulate US strategic and technical leadership 
within the IHP organization and programs. 
 
l) R. Pietrowsky represented the delegation at the partnership 
meeting of the International Flood Initiative (IFI), which 
originated as a joint UNESCO-IHP and WMO project.  The meeting 
focused on activation of the IFI advisory group, including 
discussion of the terms of reference for the group and the 
relationship of the group with the IFI Secretariat, which is planned 
to be housed at ICHARM.  A subsequent teleconference with the core 
IFI partners was scheduled on/or about 28 Aug 06 to finalize 
recommendations to the IHP Secretariat and Bureau with regard to the 
IFI advisory group and its terms of reference. 
 
m) The delegation members also attended the IHP meeting on the 
results of the 2nd Phase of the World Water Assessment Program 
(WWAP) and participated in the Member Nation refinement/discussion 
on the upcoming 3rd WWAP Phase. 
n) The delegation met with the incoming manager Bisher Imam, of the 
Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy program (HELP) - Dr. 
Bisher Imam was formerly at the Univ. CA, Irvine.  HELP is a 
crosscutting initiative established in 2001. It aims to approach 
IWRM through the creation of a framework for water law and policy 
experts, water managers and scientists who work together to solve 
water problems.  The University of Arizona SAHRA worked with IHP to 
establish the HELP strategic plan, and USDA and NOAA scientists have 
been involved in HELP.  HELP programs have been created in along the 
U.S. - Mexico border, the Willamette River Basin and the Lake 
Champlain Watershed among others.  The delegation agreed to 
coordinate with Dr. Imam to schedule a meeting with the U.S. 
National IHP Committee to explore the potential for greater US 
involvement in HELP. 
 
o) The USG delegation also met with other key IGC participants 
towards building and strengthening other strategic relationships, 
including those within the IHP Secretariat, the IHP Regional 
Hydrologist for Latin America, and National Committee counterparts 
in Mexico, Panama, Brazil, Netherlands, Denmark, UK, Australia, 
Oman, Namibia, Kenya, Sudan (UNESCO Water Chair), Japan, India, 
Nigeria, South Africa and China. 
 
¶10. Follow-Up Actions: 
 
a) USG to consider hosting an upcoming Group I regional technical 
meeting. 
 
b) Need for USG strategy following successful resolution on capacity 
building which led to addition of 5th IHP Water Theme on Education, 
particularly as related to the critical need to sustain base funding 
of UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. 
 
c) US National Committee strategy for potential consideration of 
future USG nomination(s) for UNESCO Category II water centers. 
 
d) Consideration of USG nominee to serve on the IHP task force being 
formed to develop strategy for UNESCO's Category I & Category II 
Centers per IGC Resolution XVII-2 which called for inclusion of two 
independent, internationally recognized water experts to serve on 
the task force. 
 
e) US National IHP Committee/National Commission support of USG 
strategy to position water (IHP) as a UNESCO priority for funding 
commensurate with two current flagship programs, the IOC and World 
Heritage.  Making IHP a flagship programs might not be appropriate 
here, as IHP gets much more regular budget money than IOC. 
 
f) U.S. National IHP Committee meeting with new UNESCO IHP HELP 
manager to explore greater US participation in HELP. US to evaluate 
additional collaboration between IHE and "network" of IHP Category 
II water centers per IGC resolution XVII-4. 
 
g) There is a need for greater real cooperation with other UN 
agencies particularly the WMO.  The missions of the two agencies are 
complementary and there is much more that could be coordinated and 
shared especially in the area of education and training. 
 
h) IHP IGC meeting should focus more on the science programs, their 
status and direction and the outcomes that were achieved. Koss