WEPA NewsThe 36th issue

31 March 2022
The Water Environment Partnership in Asia (WEPA) is an initiative proposed by the Japanese Ministry of theEnvironment. It aims to strengthen water environmental governance and capacity building in Asia. For further
information, please visit the WEPA website (http://wepa-db.net/en/index.html).

Topics1.

1st Capacity Building Workshop for the WEPA Action Program in Cambodia

2.

9th World Water Forum (WWF9)3.

17th WEPA Annual Meeting on 22 April 2022

4.

4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit (4th APWS) on 23 and 24 April 2022

5.

Call for your contribution to WEPA News!

1. 1st Capacity Building Workshop for the WEPA Action Program in
CambodiaOn 4 March 2022, the 1st Capacity Building Workshop for the WEPA Action Program in
Cambodia was held with 59 participants, who either joined the real-time workshop in Phnom
Penh or attended on-line via Zoom. The workshop aimed to provide capacity building forprovincial level agencies on inventory analysis of pollution sources and loads by sharing
experiences from WEPA countries. There was also a presentation on the progress made by theWEPA Action Program for water environment management and discussions focused on theoutline for a guidebook for provincial staff on “How to identify pollution sources and estimate
pollution loads in order to formulate the Comprehensive Water Quality Management Plan forTonle Sap Lake (TSL)”.
The WEPA Action Program in Cambodia will continue to be promoted to complete theguidebook. The WEPA secretariat will provide assistance in this regard.

2. 9th World Water Forum (WWF9)

The 9th World Water Forum (WWF9) ended on 25 March 2022, inDiamniadio, Senegal, with a declaration called “Blue Deal”, aimed at
guaranteeing access to water and sanitation for all, ensuring adequate
financing and inclusive governance, and strengthening cooperation.
The WEPA Secretariat participated in setting up an Action Group on Water
Quality Improvement (1.B. Improve water quality and waste management)
and jointly moderated Thematic Session 1.B.2 entitled “Implementing water
quality protection through sound governance, using an inclusive multi-stakeholder approach andknowledge-based policymaking”.
More information can be found on the website https://www.worldwaterforum.org/en

3. 17th WEPA Annual Meeting
The 17th WEPA Annual Meeting will be held on 22 April 2022, inconjunction with the 4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit (APWS) which will beheld on 23 and 24 April 2022 in Kumamoto City, Japan. The meeting will
be held as a hybrid event, combining on-site attendance with virtual
participation via Zoom.
The Annual Meeting will aim to discuss the report and plan of overall
WEPA activities. In addition, we plan to organize sessions to discuss current issues on domestic
wastewater management, sequentially from the last Annual Meeting. The sessions aim to sharethe challenges of domestic wastewater management in some WEPA countries, in response tothe comments raised at the last Annual Meeting.
The agenda and other details of the meeting will be announced in due course.

4. 4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit (4th APWS)
The 4th Asia-Pacific Water Summit (4th APWS) will be held in Kumamoto
City, Japan, on 23 and 24 April 2022. The APWS has invited high-level
delegates including heads of states and representatives from internationalorganizations in the Asia-Pacific region to discuss various water-related
issues.
WEPA will participate in the parallel thematic session Theme 4, entitled“Toward the realization of appropriate wastewater management tocontribute to sustainable development”. This parallel thematic session will focus on wastewater
management in order to contribute to sustainable development and move towards achieving theSDGs by 2030, taking into account climate change and the recent transition in the situation of theworld, and more specifically Asia, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The main objective isto provide an opportunity for the governments of Asian countries to collaborate on different
aspects (budgets, legal systems, technical standards, etc.) and determine mutual support
measures that should be taken based on regional characteristics.
More information, see the website https://apwf.org/summit/kumamoto-2022/

5. Call for your contribution to the WEPA News! (Please send us any updated
information)

We are seeking a cooperative agenda with partners. To ensure smooth progress, we welcome
information on any new developments on water environmental governance in your country. If you
have any related information, please send it to the Secretariat by email< WEPAsecretariat@iges.or.jp >.
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