Free Flow

IRINA BOKOVA, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNESCO

Foreword

In this

International Year for Water Cooperation

, our position is clear. Water is the basic ingredient of life and a

fundamental human right. Water is the common denominator of many global challenges – in health, farming,

energy, and urban development. It can be the common solution also, holding the key to global sustainability –

but this requires deeper commitment from all of us. Cooperation

around

water,

for

water and

through

water, must

happen everywhere – between States and within them. This is more than a technical or scientific issue. Water

cooperation is about fighting poverty and hunger, and protecting the environment. It is about saving children from

disease. It is about allowing girls to go to school instead of walking kilometres to fetch water. It is about providing

women and men with access to sanitation, wherever they live. Fundamentally, it is about peace, on the basis of

dialogue between States and across regions. When we talk about water security, we are really talking about human

rights and human dignity, about the sustainable development of all societies.

Water cooperation demands changes of attitude, a transformation in the way we use water and view our interests,

and an evolution in the way we govern the management of this essential resource. This can only be nurtured through

dialogue and mutual understanding, in order to create a solid basis of trust. These goals have always guided the

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in its work through water diplomacy to

help countries engage in the complex tasks of conflict resolution, mediation and water education for peace.

The same spirit underpins the

International Year of Water Cooperation

, designated by the United Nations

General Assembly to raise the profile of water security on the agenda of world leaders, water professionals, the

private sector as well as the wider public. This initiative builds on the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and

Development, the 2000 Millennium Declaration as well as the International Decade for Action, Water for Life

(2005-2015), and it will contribute to setting an ambitious global development agenda to follow 2015.

The 31 agencies of UN-Water chose UNESCO to coordinate the

International Year of Water Cooperation,

placing the organization at the forefront of a global partnership for water security. This draws on UNESCO’s

long-standing experience in cross-sectoral approaches to building water cooperation and a unique ‘water family’

including UNESCO water-related centres, university chairs and global networks. With our partners in UN-Water,

we are reaching out to civil society and the private sector to foster scientific and technical collaboration, to raise

awareness, to develop capacities and to share good practices.

This publication,

Free Flow: Reaching Water Security through Cooperation

, bears testimony to our collective

commitment to foster a lasting culture of cooperation among water practitioners, scientists and policymakers. I

wish to thank our publishing partner,

Tudor Rose

, all members of the UNESCO ‘water family’ and all contributors,

who helped to make this book possible. I am certain it will inspire many readers and guide us all forward.

Irina Bokova

Director-General of UNESCO

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