Report of Dr. Ricardo Leonardo Q. Liongsonas Philippine representative to the 19th Session of the Intergovernmental Council (IGC) of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO, held at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France on 05-09 July 2010.
A. Introduction
The undersigned, Dr. Ricardo Leonardo Q. Liongson (Chairman, Philippine National Committee for UNESCO-IHP and Professor, Institute of Civil Engineering & National Hydraulic Research Center, College of Engineering, University of the Philippines) was informed by Secretary General Amb. Preciosa S. Soliven (in a letter dated 15 June 2010) that he has been designated by the UNESCO National Commission (UNACOM) of the Philippines as the Philippine representative to attend and participate in the 19th Session of the Intergovernmental Council (IGC) of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO to be held at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France on 05-09 July 2010. This was in response to the letter of invitation of Mr. Walter Erdelen, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences of UNESCO (dated 02 March 2010), it being the case that the Philippines was elected member of the Council during the 34th UNESCO General Conference held in 2007. Amb. Soliven further informed the undersigned that all travelling expenses shall be borne by the UNESCO National Commission.
As stated in the invitation of Mr. Erdelen, during the 19th Session of the Council, it will principally examine the relevant outcomes of the 35th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference, including the Organization’s Programme and Budget for 2010-2011 (35/C5), particularly as these relate to the Implementation of the Seventh Phase of IHP (IHP-VII, 2008-2013). The Council will also, inter alia, look into recent institutional developments in IHP, review progress on the implementation of the resolutions and other recommendations adopted by the 18th Session of the IHP Council or IGC (Paris, June 2008), examine the status of UNESCO’s water-related category institute and category 2 centres under its auspices, and report on the formulation of the Eight Phase of IHP (IHP-VIII, 2014-2019), including the endorsement of the related concept paper.
B. Assistance and Coordination by UNACOM Staff, the Philippine Embassy (Paris) and the Permanent Delegation of the Philippines to UNESCO.
The budgetary preparations and traveling arrangements were made and coordinated by the staff of the UNACOM, in particular, Mr. Freddie Blanco and Ms. Josefina Escueta, on the Manila side, and by Ms. Patricia Gautier of the Permanent Delegation (PermDel) to UNESCO on the Paris side. The undersigned departed from Manila, Philippines on 03 July 2010, arrived in Paris, France on 04 July 2010 and checked-in at Hotel Baldi, Garibaldi Avenue. He attended and participated in the 19th Session of the IGC of UNESCO-IHP at UNESCO Headquarters at Place de Fontenoy, Paris during the period of 05-09 July 2010. After spending the weekend in Paris, he departed from CDG Roissy airport on 12 July 2010 and arrived home in Manila on 13 July 2010. In both ways of the travel, he was accorded port courtesies at CDG Roissy airport through the prior coordination by Ms. Patricia Gautier of PermDel and the personal accompaniment by Attache Cliford M. Macalalad of the Philippine Embassy, Paris, France.
On the first day of the 19th Session of the IGC, 05 July 2010, the undersigned was met and received by Ms. Maria Angela Ponce, Deputy Permanent Delegate, acting in behalf of Amb. Rora Navarro-Tolentino, Permanent Delegate of the Philippines to UNESCO. Ms. Ponce oriented and briefed the undersigned about the UNESCO headquarters layout and the procedure of the 19th Session itself. Ms. Ponce joined the undersigned as part of the Philippine delegation in several plenaries of the 19th Session during the period 05-09 July 2010.
C. Electoral Consultation by Region
Prior to opening to the 19th Session of the IGC, electoral consultations were done by each region on 05 July 2010 (9:30-10:00 am), and facilitated by the IHP Secretariat staff. For Region IV (Asia & Pacific), the following consensus was agreed upon by the Asia & Pacific Region with regards to the nominees of the region to various positions as enumerated:
Mr. Soontak Lee (Republic of Korea, Group IV) – nominee as Chairman of the Intergovernmental Council (IGC).
Mr. Leonardo Q. Liongson (Philippines, Group IV) – nominee as member of the Resolutions Drafting Committee of the 19th Session of the IGC.
Mr Tomoharu Hori (Japan, Group IV) – nominee as IHP representative to UNESCO-IHE’s Governing Board.
Mr Liu Heng (China, Group IV) – nominee to the Advisory Board of the International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM).
D. The 19th Session of the IGC of UNESCO-IHP (05-09 July 2010)
The following official documents of the 19th Session of the IGC (downloadable from the UNESCO IHP website) are appended to this report: 188477E-PROVISIONAL FINAL REPORT.pdf 188167E-PROVISIONAL AGENDA.pdf 01_add_prov-REVISED PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE.pdf 188157e-REVISED PROVISIONAL ANNOTATED AGENDA.pdf 05-Final List of Participants.pdf
The following highlighted sections from the Provisional Final Report of the 19th Session and additional comments, enclosed in [ ], by the undersigned, are indicated where the Philippines and Region IV (Asia & Pacific) bear direct relevance:
D.1 The nominees of Region IV (Asia & Pacific) were elected to the designated positions.
(Section 11.) The delegate of Japan nominated Mr. Soontak Lee (Republic of Korea, Group IV) as Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Council of IHP, in recognition of his longstanding contribution to IHP, as well as his outstanding work to promote water and hydrological research both in the Asia and Pacific region and globally. [The Philippines was the first Asian country to second the nomination of Mr. Soontak Lee of the Republic of Korea as Chairman of the IGC after his nomination by Japan]. The nomination of Mr. Lee was unanimously seconded. With no other candidates proposed, Mr. Lee was unanimously elected as the new Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Council.
(Section 17.). The Council elected the following members to the Resolutions Drafting Committee: Mr. Michael van der Valk (Netherlands, Group I), Ms. Snezhana Dakova (Bulgaria, Group II), Ms. Blanca Jiménez (Mexico, Group III) Mr. Leonardo Liongson (Phillipines, Group IV), Mr. Tumaini Kimaro (United Republic of Tanzania, Group Va) and Mr. Muhamad Radwan Al Momani (Jordan, Group Vb).
(Section 55.) Following the review by the IHP Bureau of the nominations received from Member States for office bearers for the Advisory and Governing Boards of the category 1 institute and two category 2 centres as well as the regional consultations corresponding to the electoral groups where such appointments were necessary, the Council unanimously designated the IHP representatives as follows:
to UNESCO-IHE’s Governing Board: o Region I: Mr Fritz Holzwarth (Germany) o Region IV: Mr Tomoharu Hori (Japan) o Region Vb: Mr Abdin Salih (Sudan)
to the Advisory Board of the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM): o Region II: Mr Zurab D. Kopaliani (Russian Federation) o Region III: Mr Basil Fernandez (Jamaica) o Region Va: Mr Biemi Jean (Cote d’Ivoire)
to the Advisory Board of the International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM): o Region I: Mr Ibrahim Gurer (Turkey) o Region II: Mr G. Jolánkai (Hungary) o Region III: Mr Rubem La Laina Porto (Brazil) o Region IV: Mr Liu Heng (China) o Region Va: Mr Dhesigen Naidoo (South Africa) o Region Vb: Mr Ahmed Murad (United Arab Emirates)
D.2 The Philippines supported the creation of the International Drought Initiative (IDI) and the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Guidelines on the River Basin Level Intiative.
(Section 76.) The Secretariat reported on recent IHP initiatives, namely Water and Cultural Diversity, the involvement of IHP on the DESD and the UNESCO Strategy on Climate Change. It reported, in particular, on two proposed initiatives requiring a decision from the Council for their creation: the International Drought Initiative (IDI) and the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Guidelines on the River Basin Level Initiative. Several Member States, including Brazil, Oman, Mexico, Senegal, Sudan, Pakistan, Philippines, UAE and USA expressed strong support for the establishment of the IDI and the IWRM Guidelines on the River Basin Level Initiative.
D.3 The Philippines recognizes the benefits of the IHP-VII Activities for the Asia & Pacific Region.
(Section 71.) The Council expressed satisfaction with the excellent progress in meeting the targets set for IHP-VII. The delegate of Sudan highlighted IHP’s achievement in developing a network of 12 universities in the Arab region focusing on education and building capacity in water resources management. The delegate from Brazil highlighted both the importance of developing collaborative networks between the various water-related centres under the auspices of UNESCO and of the significance of focusing on water education. Expressing satisfaction with the work reported in Africa, the delegate from Senegal highlighted the importance of continuing the work, in particular in improving knowledge of aquifers and the need to develop drought management tools that can be used by Member States. The delegate from the Netherlands noted the need to feedback to Member States on their plans for participation in IHP-VII, as expressed during the planning stages of IHP-VII. Likewise, the delegate from Pakistan encouraged fellow delegates to become personally involved in IHP activities. Delegates from the Russian Federation encouraged the Secretariat to improve the publication and dissemination of results from the many projects conducted within the framework of IHP-VII and suggested that the Secretariat convene groups of experts to provide synthesis of important projects such as the Modena Basin project. The delegate of Jordan expressed satisfaction at the number of activities being carried out in Africa. The delegate also encouraged Member States to be more active in developing their respective IHP National Committees, possibly with training provided by the Secretariat and Regional Offices. The delegate from Kenya, while acknowledging that the development of National Committees is the responsibility of Member States, indicated that IHP activities in Africa could also be greatly enhanced with the help of the Secretariat. By providing training activities, the Secretariat could assist in empowering the IHP National Committees, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The delegate from Peru emphasized the importance of snow and ice processes in several Latin American countries, and indicated that a Draft Resolution had been submitted to recognize this and other important issues in the region.
[Several delegates of other member countries, including the Philippines, requested the IHP Secretariat to include in Section 71 of the forthcoming Final Report of the 19th Session all the other comments made by them with respect to the progress in meeting the targets set for IHP-VII. In particular, the Philippines recognizes the positive results of the IHP-VII projects. The Philippines expresses the following:
1. Recognizes the achievement of strong cooperation of the Asia-Pacific member countries under IHP-VII in the regional activities of the “Asia-Pacific Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data (APFRIEND”) on rainfall-duration-frequency and flood frequency analyses, the cooperative flood forecasting research being undertaken by Asia-Pacific countries jointly at the UNESCO Humid Tropics Centre (HTC) category 2 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the need to continue these common activities in the transition from IHP-VII to IHP-VIII with the necessary refocusing and realigning of priority themes. 2. Recommends the sharing of knowledge and methodologies between the new International Drought Initiative (IDI) and the International Flood Initiative (IFI). 3. Recognizes the benefit and the need to continue the University of Nagoya IHP training sessions on the inter-disciplinary fields of atmospheric, oceanographic and hydrological sciences which train the young generation of water specialists in the Asia & Pacific region.]
D.4 Resolutions approved by the 19th Session of the IGC
Not in the appended documents yet but expected to be included in the forthcoming Final Report of the 19th Session of the IGC are the approved text of the 12 resolutions passed by the IGC on the final day of session on 09 July 2010. The titles of the 12 resolutions, one of which was co-submitted by the Philippines, are as follows:
1. Resolution concerning the Financial Support to the International Hydrological Programme and Appeal to the Executive Board and the General Conference. (Submitted by the IHP Bureau). 2. Resolution concerning the New Strategic Directions and Comprehensive Reforms of UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. (Drafted by the IHP Secretariat upon request of the IHP Bureau. Supported by the United Republic of Tanzania). 3. Resolution concerning the granting of doctoral degrees by UNESCO-IHE Institute of Water Education. (Drafted by the IHP Secretariat upon recommendation of the IHP Bureau). 4. Resolution concerning the endorsement of the proposals for the establishment of water-related centres under the auspices of UNESCO (Category 2). (Drafted by the IHP Secretariat upon the request of Kenya, South Africa, and Sudan). 5. Resolution concerning the IWRM Guidelines at the River Basin Level Initiative. (Submitted by Germany, Japan, Republic of Korea and supported by Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, and the USA). 6. Resolution concerning the Initiative on Internationally Shared Aquifer Resources Management (ISARM). (Presented by Italy and supported by Brazil, Peru, and IAH). 7. Resolution concerning the creation of the section on groundwater resources and aquifer systems within the Division of Water Sciences. (Submitted by the Netherlands and Peru). 8. Resolution concerning the protection of the Andean ice core archives. (Submitted by Chile, Mexico and Peru). 9. Resolution concerning the establishment of UNESCO-IHE Mirror Institute in sub-Saharan Africa. (Submitted by United Republic of Tanzania and Supported by Benin, Nigeria, and South Africa).
Resolution concerning the Strengthening of IHP Activities in sub-Saharan Africa. (Submitted by United Republic of Tanzania and Supported by Benin, Nigeria, and South Africa). 11. Resolution concerning the communication of IHP progress to Member States. (Submitted by Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines and the United States of America and Supported by Canada, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom). 12. Resolution concerning the proposal for the establishment of an International Drought Initiative (IDI). (Submitted by I. R. Iran and Supported by Sudan). |
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Group picture of the member country delegates, IHP Secretariat and heads of UNESCO category 1 and 2 centres during the 19 th Session of the Intergovernmental Council of the UNESCO IHP. |
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Dr. Leonardo Q. Liongson, Philippine Delegate, 19 th Session of the IGC of UNESCO-IHP. |
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Dr. Leonardo Q. Liongson attended the book-launching of the hydrology book authored by Prof. Andras Szöllösi-Nagy, Rector, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education at the Netherlands. |
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Ms. Maria Angela Ponce, Deputy Permanent Delegate of the Philippines to UNESCO, and Dr. Leonardo Q. Liongson, Philippine Delegate, 19 th Session of the IGC of UNESCO-IHP |
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Dr. Leonardo Q. Liongson, Philippine Delegate, 19 th Session of the IGC of UNESCO-IHP,met his former classmate in the PhD Program in Hydrology and Water Resources of the University of Tucson, Arizona, USA in 1973-76, among the delegation of Mexico: Mr Alberto Guitrón de los Reyes, Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua (IMTA), Vice presidente Hidrología y Mecánica de Ríos. |
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Dr. Leonardo Q. Liongson, Philippine Delegate, 19 th Session of the IGC of UNESCO-IHP,beside Mr. Alfredo Picasso, Scientific Counsellor, Permanent Delegation of Peru to UNESCO. |
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Dr. Leonardo Q. Liongson, Philippine Delegate, 19 th Session of the IGC of UNESCO-IHP, besideMs. Teresa Salado, Counsellor (Technical), Permanent Delegation of Portugal to UNESCO. |
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E. UNESCO-related Social Activities attended by the Philippine Delegate.
E.1 Dinner on 05 July 2010, given by the Ambassador and Head of the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Korea to UNESCO, in honor of Prof. Sontak Lee, elected Chairman of the Intergovernmental Council of the IHP (held at “La Bocalle”, 6, Rue Ernest Renan, 75015, Paris).
E.2 Dinner on 07 July 2010, given by the Ambassador and Head of the Permanent Delegation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to UNESCO for invited countries (held at the official residence of the Ambassador).
E.3 Brief greetings and conversation with Ms. Ania Grobicki, Executive Secretary of the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and presenter of “Facing the perfect storm: trans-disciplinary responses to global change” during the Scientific Segment of the 19th Session of the IGC held in the afternoon of 07 July 2010. Ms. Grobicke visited the Philippines last May 2010, in particular the Asian Development Bank and the Philippine Water Partnership (at MWSS Bldg., Balara, Quezon City), a consulting partner of GWP, chaired also by the undersigned, with regards to proposed ADB-GWP projects on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
F. Acknowledgements
UNESCO National Commission (UNACOM) of the Philippines. Ambassador Preciosa S. Soliven, Secretary-General, UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines. Ambassador Rora Navarro-Tolentino, Permanent Delegate of the Philippines to UNESCO Chancellor Sergio S. Cao, University of the Philippines Diliman Ms. Maria Angela Ponce, Deputy Permanent Delegate of the Philippines to UNESCO Mr. Freddie Blanco and Ms. Josefina Escueta, Staff officers of the UNACOM Ms. Patricia Gautier, Permanent Delegation of the Philippines to UNESCO. Attache Cliford M. Macalalad, Philippine Embassy, Paris, France. Mr. Vicente Leogardo, Programme Adjoint Specialist, UNESCO-IHP
Report submitted by:
Dr. Leonardo Q. Liongson (full passport name: Ricardo Leonardo Q. Liongson) Chairman, Philippine National Committee for UNESCO-IHP and Professor, Institute of Civil Engineering & National Hydraulic Research Center College of Engineering, University of the Philippines UP P.O. Box 37 Diliman, Quezon City 1101 Tel: +63 2 927 716 / 7149 Fax: +63 2 927 7190 Email: leonardo.liongson@up.edu.ph Email: leony1948@yahoo.com
Attached documents:
Revised provisional list of documents Revised provisional annotated agenda Provisioonal final report Partr 1 Letter to Dr. Liongon from the Permanent Philippine delegation to UNSECO
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And the more excitingt part of the Paris hydrology conference (as far as we are concerned):
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