The 2005 World Water Week in Stockholm gets underway in earnest on Monday, August 22, with Opening General Session speeches by ministers from South Africa and Sweden, and from the 2005 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate, Sunita Narain, which will elucidate how problems of poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and gender inequality can in large measure be solved with water and sanitation as the key entry points.
In addition, a press briefing and panel debate will look at alternative future approaches to achieve global water and sanitation coverage. Currently, more than 2.6 billion people - over 40 per cent of the world's population - do not have access to basic sanitation, and more than one billion people still use unsafe sources of drinking water.

Events listed below take place at the Stockholm City Conference Centre/Folkets Hus.

Agenda, Monday, August 22

10:15 Welcome Speech by Mr. Anders Berntell, Executive Director, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), Sweden

10:25 Official Opening Address of the 15th Stockholm Water Symposium by Prof. Lena Sommestad*, Minister of the Environment, Swedish Ministry for Sustainable Development, Sweden

10:40 Keynote Speaker on ”Water Security in Developing Countries – A People Centered Approach” by H.E. Buyelwa Patience Sonjica*, Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa

11:05 Keynote Speaker on ”Working Partnerships and Combined Approaches for Improved Water and Sanitation Services for the Poor: Empowering Experiences in Cali, Columbia” by Ms. Mariela Garcia Vargas, CINARA, Universidad del Valle, Colombia

11:30 2005 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate Lecture on ”The Want and Waste of Water: The Paradigm Shift for Water Management in the South” by Ms. Sunita Narain*, Director, Centre for Science and Environment, India

12:10 Press Briefing: “Bricks, Mortar and the Human Touch: Alternative Development Scenarios to Achieve Global Water and Sanitation Coverage” Room 206 at the Stockholm City Conference Centre/Folkets Hus, Barnhusgatan, 12-14. Press conference participants are marked with an asterisk (”*”).

13:30 “15-Year Message of the Stockholm Water Symposia: Hydrosolidarity – Ample Opportunities for Human Ingenuity” by Prof. Malin Falkenmark, SIWI, Sweden

15:30 High Level Discussion: “Large-Scale Water Infrastructure”, moderated by Mr. Nik Gowing, BBC World

Mr. Mike Anane, League of Environmental Journalists, Ghana
H.E. Martha Karua, Minister of Water Resources Management and Development, Kenya
Mr. Steven R. Loranger, President and CEO, ITT Industries, USA
Ms. Sunita Narain, Director, Centre for Science and Environment, India
H.E. Buyelwa Patience Sonjica, Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa
Mr. Jamal Saghir*, Director, Energy and Water,...