Panama Hosts the Water Summit in 2011

Panama will pleasurably welcome the international community in water issues to the HELP International Symposium: “Building Knowledge Bridges for a Sustainable Water Future.

This activity is part of a series of a global meetings convened by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), that take place with the leadership of the International Hydrological Programs to evaluate the water resources assessment and management, conduct researches about this vital liquid for human beings, and educate about its importance. Water law experts and related policies, water resource managers, and water scientists from 40 countries around the world will be participating at this symposium in Panama.

The International Hydrological Program is the only ONU’s international nongovernmental organization is built on three tracks: water research, water resources assessment and management, and education and capacity building. The IHP’s prevailing priorities are concentrated in continually promoting and conducting international water research, facilitate the development of education and capacity building, and improve the water resources assessment and management to achieve environmental sustainability.

The goal of these joint efforts is to help accomplish the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) build on environmental sustainability, water supply, sanitation, food security, and poverty alleviation.The initiative Hydrology for the Environmental, Life and Policy (HELP) has established a basin global network to improve the relationship between hydrology and the needs of the society. The basin global network has connected, up to now, 90 drainage basins from 67 countries, more than 600 institutions, and thousands of people who are a part of an extensive scientists team, which is responsible for formulating policies, and representatives of key sectors involved and communities from around the world. Panama and Costa Rica are two of the Latin America countries that have basins within initiative HELP, respectively the Panama Canal Drainage Basin and Reventazón River Drainage Basin.

FIELD TOUR

During this international symposium, there will be exhibitions at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, and on the last day of this event, a field tour will be taking place to monitor the widening progress of the third set of locks of the Panama Canal.