-TURKEY TO HOST WORLD WATER FORUM

-TURKEY TO HOST WORLD WATER FORUM 

ISTANBUL (A.A) - 18.02.2009 - Turkey will host the Fifth World Water Forum in March, a communication and consulting company said on Wednesday.
The Fifth World Water Forum would take place in Istanbul between March 16 and 22, the Bersay communication and consulting firm said. 
The company said that around 1,000 foreigners had registered to participate in the forum, and expressed expectation that around 20,000 people would attend the forum. 
Turkey would also host the ministers of water and environment of around 200 countries, 25 heads of state and 20 mayors, the company also said.
The theme of the forum will be "bridging divides for Turkey", and "Istanbul Water Consensus" is expected to be signed during the forum.
The Istanbul Water Consensus invites mayors and local government leaders to make a united commitment for urban water resource management in the face of global changes. The first part of the Consensus is a declaration and the second part is a specific commitment designed to be tailored to the circumstances of the individual city or local authority.
Serving as stepping-stones towards global collaboration on water problems, the World Water Forum is a unique platform where the water community and the policy and decision makers from all regions of the world can link together, debate and attempt to find solutions to achieve water security.
The World Water Council's World Water Forum, organized every three years in close collaboration with the authorities of the hosting country, is the largest international event in the field of water.
The forum was held in Morocco in 1997, the Netherlands in 2000, Japan in 2003 and Mexico in 2006.