Background and Objectives

In the Asian region, the quality and quantity of water resources have deteriorated due to the increasing demand on water and polluted water resources caused by inadequate management. This has been one of the main factors hindering socio-economic development in this region. In order to achieve sustainable development in Asia, it is necessary to manage water resources in a sustainable manner and to create a sound water environment.

The Ministerial Declaration of the International Ministerial Conference at the Third World Water Forum (WWF3) states that “water is a driving force for sustainable development including environmental integrity, and the eradication of poverty and hunger, indispensable for human health and welfare”, and “each country has the primary responsibility to act”. In this regard, the declaration emphasises the importance of good governance and capacity building to succeed in these efforts.

For the declaration to result in real action, the “Portfolio of Water Action” was created to encourage each government at the WWF3 to take specific action.
There are various actors involved in water environmental management, including governments, experts, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and citizens. Among these actors, government officials play an important role as they are primarily responsible for the planning and implementation of policies on water-environment management. It is therefore important to provide assistance to government officials and to those who provide them with support, such as aid agencies. Such assistance includes the provision of appropriate information regarding methods and technologies of water environment management suitable for the Asian region.

Through consideration of the current situation and policy needs, the “Water Environment Partnership in Asia (WEPA)” aims to promote good governance in water environment management by providing necessary information and knowledge of water environment management in the region through databases. It further aims to develop the capacity of relevant stakeholders by working together on the construction of the databases.

Basic Structure of WEPA Database

The WEPA Database basically consists of the following four databases.

• Database on policy-related information
• Database on technologies for water environment conservation
• Database on information related to activities by NGOs and CBOs
• Database on information sources

WEPA Partner Countries

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka) Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (Nepal) Japan (Japan) Kingdom of Cambodia (Cambodia) Kingdom of Thailand (Thailand) Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) Malaysia (Malaysia) People's Republic of China (China) Republic of Indonesia (Indonesia) Republic of Korea (Republic of Korea) Republic of the Philippines (Philippines) Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (Viet Nam) Union of Myanmar (Myanmar) *Sri Lanka and Nepal joined WEPA from 2009 (WEPA 2nd phase)

WEPA Implementation Structure

WEPA Brochure

March 2015 issue
p1 and p4 (657KB)		p2 and p3 (742KB)

March 2011 issue
p1 and p4 (5,323KB)		p2 and p3 (4,047KB)

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